LINCOLN 

AND 

PROHIBITION 


o 


CHARLES  T.  WHITE 


GIFT    OF 
JANE  K.SATHBR 


ABRAHAM      LINCOLN     IN      1862 


LINCOLN   AND 
PROHIBITION 


BY 

CHARLES  T.  WHITE 

Political  News  Editor  New  York  Tribune 
Tax  Commissioner  of  New  York  under  Mayors  Gaynor  and  Mitchel 


INTRODUCTION  BY 

WILL  H.  HAYS 

Postmaster  General  of  the  United  States 


WITH  PORTRAITS  AND  DOCUMENTS 


THE   ABINGDON    PRESS 

NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1921,  by 
CHARLES  T.  WHITE 


V- 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


To 
BISHOP  LUTHER  B.  WILSON,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

A   DISTINGUISHED   REPRESENTATIVE   OF   THE   FORCES 

TRIUMPHANTLY    BATTLING   FOR  A   HIGHER 

STANDARD  OF  THOUGHT  AND  LIFE 


I    .* 


CONTENTS 

PAGB 

PREFACE 9 

INTRODUCTION 15 

D.  H.  BATES'  JUDGMENT  ON  GENUINENESS  OF  MERWIN 

DOCUMENTS 18 

CHAPTER 

I.  LIQUOR  DRINKING  IN  THE  LINCOLN  PERIOD  . .     21 
General  Neal  Dow's  Testimony. 

II.  THOMAS  LINCOLN  AND  NANCY  HANKS 24 

Sober,  temperate,  kindly  people — Thomas 
Lincoln's  prodigious  strength — His  fight 
with  Abraham  Enloe. 

III.  LINCOLN'S  HOME  TRAINING 27 

Prayer  and  Bible  reading  in  the  home — Total 
abstinence  from  liquor — Charles  G.  Le- 
land's  comment. 

IV.  LINCOLN'S  "FIRST  TEMPERANCE  LECTURE".  . .     30 

He  beats  the  champion  weight-lifter — "If  you 
wishjto  remain  healthy  and  strong,"  etc. 
V.  LINCOLN'S  ESSAY  ON  TEMPERANCE  AT  SEVEN 
TEEN  32 

Herndon,  Lincoln's  law  partner,  testifies. 
VI.  BERRY  AND  LINCOLN  AS  "GROCERY  KEEPERS"    34 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  refuted  at  Ottawa — 
Leonard  Swett  testifies — Berry  leaves  crush 
ing  debt  for  Lincoln  to  pay. 

VII.  THE  WASHINGTONIAN  MOVEMENT 37 

Lincoln  the  Springfield  leader — Lincoln's  let 
ter  to  Pickett,  "Recruit  for  this  victory." 
VIII.  LINCOLN'S  ADDRESS  TO  THE  WASHINGTONIANS.     40 
"When  there  shall  be  neither  a  slave  nor  a 
drunkard." 

IX.  FATHER  MATHEW 56 

His  visit  to  America  in  1849 — Effect  of 
his  crusade. 


6  CONTENTS 

CHAPTBB  PAQH 

X.  SONS  OF  TEMPERANCE 60 

Origin,  scope,  and  spread — Lincoln's  address 
to  delegation  in  1863. 

XI.  LINCOLN  AND  PLEDGE  SIGNING 63 

His  temperance  addresses  in  1846-47 — 
Affidavits  by  signers — The  Lincoln  pledge. 

XII.  LINCOLN'S    INDORSEMENT    OP   His    PASTOR'S 

RADICAL  TEMPERANCE  VIEWS 65 

He  helps  to  print  and  circulate  them. 

XIII.  LINCOLN    AND    THE    ILLINOIS    PROHIBITION 

CAMPAIGN 66 

His  sympathy  for  the  cause. 

XIV.  THE    ILLINOIS   PROHIBITION   LAW   AND    ITS 

AUTHORSHIP 69 

Lincoln  the  framer  of  the  prohibition  law — 
Henry  B.  Rankin's  comment — Paid  counsel 
of  the  Maine  Law  Alliance — Shrewd  provi 
sions  of  the  act. 

XV.  PRESS  COMMENTS  ON  THE  DRY  LAW 73 

Stephen  T.  Logan  a  temperance  worker — 
Passage  of  the  law  in  House  and  Senate 
— Prohibition  parade  in  Chicago — Dry  law 
beaten  on  referendum  June  5,  1855,  by 
fraud — An  1855  prophecy. 

XVI.  ILLINOIS  DRY  LAW,  FEBRUARY  12,  1855 79 

Lincoln's    senatorship     contest    coincident 
with  prohibition  campaign — Lincoln  in  1855 
walks  six  miles  to  make  temperance  speech. 
XVII.  COLD  WATER  ONLY  AT  SPRINGFIELD  NOTIFI 
CATION  83 

Lincoln  refused  to  have  liquors  served. 

XVIII.  THE  PROHIBITION  WATCH 85 

Lincoln  writes  inscription  and  presents  it  to 
Merwin  hi  Chicago — Watch  lost  and  re 
covered. 


CONTENTS  7 

CHAPTER  PAOH 

XIX,  ABOUT   CHAPLAIN   JAMES   B.    MERWIN   AND 

LINCOLN 87 

Merwin  summoned  by  Lincoln  to  do  temper 
ance  work  in  the  army — Lincoln  writes 
Merwin  a  pass — His  work  indorsed  by 
Lincoln — Generals  Scott,  Butler,  and  Dix. 

XX.  LINCOLN    AND    GENERAL    GRANT'S    LIQUOR 

DRINKING 93 

Liquor  men  make  most  of  Lincoln's  jest 
to  Grant's  detractors — General  Rawlins' 
reproof  to  General  Grant — Grant's  self- 
mastery — Grant's  estimate  of  Rawlins. 

XXI.  "ALCOHOL  THE  ARMY  CURSE" 95 

General  Baker  on  liquor  drinking  in  the 
service — Lincoln  and  Stanton  fight  it. 
XXII.  TEMPERANCE  AND  DISCIPLINE  IN  THE  RANKS.     99 
New  York  Evening  Post  notes  Merwin's 
work  in  the  army — Butler  says,  "Mission 
of  Merwin  will  be  of  great  benefit." 

XXIII.  LINCOLN  ACCEPTED  INTERNAL  REVENUE  ACT 

AS  WAR  MEASURE 101 

Hoped  for  its  repeal  after  war  was  over. 

XXIV.  LINCOLN'S  LAST  UTTERANCE  ON  TEMPERANCE  .  103 

"The  next  great  question" — Hoped  to  see 
his  own  prophecy  fulfilled. 

XXV.  LINCOLN'S  ASSASSINS  A  DRINKING  SET 104 

His  killing  part  of  a  larger  plot — Booth 
intoxicated  when  he  killed  Lincoln. 

XXVI.  LINCOLN'S  SECRETIVENESS  AND  CAUTION 106 

Testimony  of  Herndon,  Davis,  and  Swett. 

XXVII.  CROOKED  ELECTIONS  FOR  FIFTY  YEARS 109 

XXVIII.  IN  CONCLUSION Ill 

Roosevelt  and  the  Lincoln  portrait — Gov 
ernor  Black's  eloquent  tribute. 


8  CONTENTS 

APPENDIX 

PAGB 

A — CHRONOLOGY     OP     ANTI-LIQUOR     MOVEMENT     IN 

AMERICA 113 

B — GENERAL  MCDOUGALL'S  INDORSEMENT  OP  JAMES  B. 

MERWIN 140 

C — THE  1855  PROHIBITION  BATTLE  IN  ILLINOIS  HISTORY.  141 

D — MERWIN'S  STATEMENT  TO  THE  WRITER  . 145 

E — BANKER  A.  J.  BASER  CONFIRMS  MERWIN 150 

F — MERWIN'S  LETTER  TO  F.  D.  BLAKESLEE 153 

G — DR.  NATHAN  SMITH  DAVIS,  PIONEER  TEMPERANCE 

ADVOCATE 158 

H— EX-SECRETARY  ROBERT  T.  LINCOLN'S  LETTER 

ABOUT  MERWIN 159 

I — LINCOLN  AND  A  PANAMA  CANAL 162 

J — TEXT  OP  MAINE  PROHIBITION  LAW 165 

K — THE  ILLINOIS  1855  PROHIBITION  LAW  FRAMED  BY 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 176 

AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED 228 

INDEX 229 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  IN  1862 Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

LINCOLN  IN  1847 — His  FIRST  PHOTOGRAPH 40 

FATHER  THEOBALD  MATHEW,  TEMPERANCE  REFORMER.     56 

JAMES  B.  MERWIN'S  PROHIBITION  WATCH 86 

JAMES  B.  MERWIN'S  ARMY  PASS,  WRITTEN  BY  LINCOLN  .     88 

FACSIMILE    INDORSEMENTS     BY    LINCOLN,     GENERALS 

SCOTT  AND   BUTLER,   WITH  NAMES  OP  PETITIONERS 

ASKING  TO  HAVE  JAMES  B.  MERWIN  DESIGNATED  AS 

A  TEMPERANCE  WORKER  IN  THE  UNION  ARMY.     PLATES 

A  AND  B 90 

GENERAL  JOHN  A.   Dix's   INDORSEMENT  OP   MERWIN 

AND  His  WORK 92 

CHAPLAIN  JAMES  B.  MERWIN 103 

JAMES  B.  MERWIN'S  PASS  FOR  HIMSELF  AND  DRIVER  . . .   148 


PREFACE 

And  when  the  victory  shall  be  complete — when 
there  shall  he  neither  a  slave  nor  a  drunkard  on 
earth — how  proud  the  title  of  that  land  which  may 
truly  claim  to  be  the  birthplace  and  the  cradle 
of  both  those  revolutions  that  shall  have  ended  in 
that  victory. — Lincoln  to  the  W ashingtonian  So 
ciety,  Springfield,  Illinois,  February  22,  1842. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  set  forth  in  con 
nected  and  logical  form  a  brief  but  comprehensive 
record  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  efforts  for  the  sup 
pression  of  intemperance. 

Here  for  the  first  time  is  presented  in  perma 
nent  form  documentary  proof  that  Lincoln,  in 
1855,  as  counsel  for  the  Illinois  State  Maine  Law 
Alliance,  wrote  a  drastic  prohibition  State  law, 
which  was  passed  by  the  Legislature,  and  on  its 
submission  to  a  referendum  in  a  general  election 
five  months  later  failed  of  acceptance  by  a  vote  of 
93,102  against  the  proposition  to  79,010  in  favor 
of  it. 

The  defeat  of  the  prohibitory  law  was  accom 
plished  by  fraud,  the  safeguarding  of  elections  at 
that  time  being  ineffective.  .The  liquor  interests 
brought  to  pass  bloodshed  and  riots,  which  in  the 
city  of  Chicago  were  checked  only  by  the  declara 
tion  of  martial  law. 


10  LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  a  total-abstinence  third- 
party  political  prohibitionist  as  the  term  is  at 
present  understood,  but  his  directing  genius  as 
counsel  in  the  1855  State  campaign  was  responsi 
ble  for  one  of  the  most  brilliant  political  achieve 
ments  in  the  long  battle  for  prohibition. 

There  is  no  mistaking  his  moral  or  political 
direction.  He  was  an  ultimate  prohibitionist,  as 
he  was  an  ultimate  abolitionist. 

The  anti-slavery  extension  movement  and  the 
Illinois  senatorship  contest  in  the  winter  of  1855, 
in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  leading  figure  and 
candidate,  were  co-related.  They  completely  over 
shadowed  other  things,  so  that  while  Lincoln  and 
his  friends  fought  valiantly  for  the  suppression  of 
intemperance,  both  before  and  after  the  defeat  of 
the  State  prohibition  law  in  June,  1855,  the  over 
shadowing  anti-slavery  movement  soon  left  the 
anti-rum  battle  little  more  than  a  memory. 

The  record  of  the  1855  movement  for  State  pro 
hibition  in  Illinois  includes  documents,  affidavits, 
and  data  by  the  late  James  B.  Merwin,  an  associ 
ate  of  Lincoln  both  in  1855  and  during  the  Civil 
War. 

Merwin's  data  Ls  used  only  so  far  as  it  will 
stand  a  rigid  analytical  test.  He  lost  nearly  all 
his  Lincoln  correspondence  in  the  great  Chicago 
fire  in  the  early  seventies.  The  documents  saved 
amply  substantiate  Merwin's  claim  to  fairly  in 
timate  association  with  the  President. 

Much  of  tbe  Merwin  matter — the  portions  not 


PEEFACE  11 

essential  to  a  concise  record — is  carried  in  the 
Appendix.  The  writer's  association  with  Mr.  Mer- 
win  was  during  the  last  year  of  his  life.  He  was 
a  cultured  Christian  gentleman,  but  in  his  last 
years  [he  died  at  87]  he  was  unmethodical  and  at 
times  hazy  in  his  reminiscences.  The  writer 
"checked  up"  on  all  of  his  leading  statements. 
Those  quoted  successfully  withstood  the  severest 
tests. 

The  late  Charles  A.  Dana,  of  the  New  York  Sun, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  War  in  the  Lincoln  admin 
istration,  in  his  admirable  address  to  the  New 
Haven  Colony  Historical  Society  on  May  10,  1896, 
said  of  Lincoln :  "He  was  the  least  faulty  in  his 
conclusions  of  any  man  that  I  have  ever  known. 
He  never  stepped  too  soon,  and  he  never  stepped 
too  late" 

The  late  Col.  A.  K.  McClure,  of  the  Philadelphia 
Times,  whose  insight  into  Lincoln's  personality 
came  from  personal  knowledge,  said  this:  "Mr. 
Lincoln  gave  his  confidence  to  no  living  man  with 
out  reservation.  He  trusted  many,  but  he  trusted 
only  within  the  carefully  studied  limitations  of 
their  usefulness,  and  when  he  trusted  he  confided, 
as  a  rule,  only  to  the  extent  necessary  to  make  that 
trust  available." 

These  two  propositions  should  be  kept  in  mind 
in  the  contemplation  of  Lincoln's  participation  in 
the  prohibition  campaign  in  1855.  He  was  paid 
by  William  B.  Ogden,  of  the  Chicago  &  North 
western  Railroad,  and  others  for  furnishing  the 


12          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

"brains"  of  the  campaign.  He  was  a  consistent 
fighter  for  temperance,  but  with  his  knowledge  of 
political  factors  he  doubtless  was  not  surprised 
when  the  temperance  people  were  robbed  of  a 
victory  through  intimidation  and  fraud. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  man  of  God  in  the  tru 
est  sense.  Perhaps  it  was  his  firm  reliance  on  God 
and  his  belief  in  an  overruling  Providence  that 
inclined  him  toward  the  ministers.  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,  Bishop  Matthew  Simpson,  Phineas  D. 
Gurley,  Henry  W.  Bellows,  and  James  Smith  were 
among  his  advisers.  The  Lincoln  student  will  do 
well  to  read  about  Lincoln  and  Father  Chiniquy, 
a  victim  of  conspiracy,  and  how  Chiniquy  was 
saved  from  going  to  prison  in  1856  by  Lincoln; 
also  about  Lincoln  and  Colonel  James  F.  Jaquess, 
of  the  73rd  Illinois  Regiment,  a  Methodist 
preacher,  who  in  1863,  with  Lincoln's  knowledge 
and  assistance,  undertook  a  peace  mission  to  the 
Confederate  government.  When  these  two  signifi 
cant  incidents  are  analyzed,  it  will  not  appear  sur 
prising  that  Lincoln  equipped  the  Rev.  James  B. 
Merwin  with  a  pass  written  and  signed  by  himself, 
supporting  him  through  Generals  Winfield  Scott 
and  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  and  kept  him  at  work 
during  the  war  talking  temperance  to  the  soldiers. 

If  unusual  prominence  is  given  to  Merwin's 
documents  and  data,  it  is  because  Abraham  Lin 
coln's  interest  in  and  activity  for  the  prohibition 
of  the  sale  and  use  of  intoxicating  liquor  as  a 
beverage  have  not  hitherto  been  fully  appreciated. 


PREFACE  13 

This  volume  will  serve  a  useful  purpose  if  by 
presenting  documentary  proof  it  lifts  Lincoln's 
interest  in  the  suppression  of  intemperance  to  its 
proper  level — to  a  plane  of  equality  with  objects 
deeply  cherished  by  him. 

Included  in  the  collateral  matter  in  the  Appen 
dix  are  the  Maine  prohibition  act  of  1851,  and 
the  Illinois  prohibition  act  of  1855  drafted  by 
Lincoln,  and  reviewed  by  B.  S.  Edwards  and 
Stephen  T.  Logan,  the  latter  at  one  time  Lincoln's 
law  partner,  and  other  Republicans  of  the  Illinois 
Legislature  of  1855.  Lincoln  used  the  Maine  law 
to  some  extent  as  a  basic  guide,  but  the  Illinois 
law  was  a  much  more  perfect  piece  of  legal  mech 
anism.  The  Illinois  organization  was  called 
the  "Illinois  State  Maine  Law  Alliance."  Also  in 
the  Appendix  will  be  found  data  with  reference  to 
the  passage  of  the  Illinois  prohibition  act  and  its 
fate  in  the  referendum  election  in  June,  1855.  In 
cluded  also  are  reminiscences  by  James  B.  Merwin 
not  essential  to  a  concise  record  of  Lincoln  as  a 
temperance  man,  and  letters  on  the  credibility  of 
Merwin  from  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  A.  J.  Baber, 
banker,  and  C.  McDougall,  medical  director,  De 
partment  of  the  East,  U.  S.  A.  In  view  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln's  installation  of  Merwin  as  a  tem 
perance  worker  in  the  army — an  innovation  sup 
ported  by  Generals  Scott,  Butler,  and  Dix — 
'•'character  witnesses"  for  Merwin  are  superfluous, 
but  they  may  be  regarded  as  illuminating.  Robert 
T.  Lincoln's  letter  is  included  because  of  the  writ- 


14          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

er's  respect  for  Mr.  Lincoln's  all-around  judgment. 
What  he  says  does  not  conflict  with  documentary 
proof. 

The  writer  is  the  owner  of  the  more  important 
documents  used  in  this  volume.  If  their  genuine 
ness  or  purport  is  challenged,  the  lovers  of  truth 
may  rest  assured  that  only  the  truth  is  desired, 
as  only  the  truth  will  survive. 

C.  T.  W. 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  one  controlling  motif  of  Lincoln's  life  was 
the  consistent  determination  to  do  that  which  he 
thought  was  right,  and  it  did  not  matter  one  whit 
how  that  course  affected  him,  or  anyone  else,  or 
anything.  I  affirm  that  to  love  truth  for  truth's 
sake  is  the  principal  part  of  perfection  in  this 
world.  That,  above  all  other  things,  this  man  did. 
He  was  honest  in  act,  honest  in  word,  and  honest 
in  thought.  The  crime  of  sham  was  not  his.  He 
recognized  the  perfidy  of  pretense  and  the  wicked 
ness  of  make-believe,  and  he  abhorred  them  with 
the  wholesome  hate  they  merit.  And  just  as  this 
inherent  honesty  was  his  chief  personal  character 
istic,  so  in  like  manner  was  that  quality  of  patri 
otism  which  moved  him  to  measure  his  every  act 
from  his  earliest  manhood  to  the  date  of  his  death 
by  how,  in  his  good  judgment,  he  could  do  the 
most  for  his  country's  welfare.  This  patriotism 
is  our  lesson.  It  was  not  the  patriotism  that  was 
born  of  extremities ;  it  was  not  that  fire,  splendid 
as  it  is,  which  burns  in  the  souls  of  men  only  when 
their  country  is  in  danger;  his  patriotism  was  not 
the  patriotism  stirred  only  by  martial  music.  It 
was  the  patriotism  of  good  citizenship,  at  the  fire 
side,  the  plow,  the  mart,  in  low  places  and  in  high 
places,  in  season  and  out  of  season;  it  was  the 

15 


1G          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

patriotism  which  caused  him  to  make  his  coun 
try's  welfare  his  own  business  and  to  interest  him 
self  continually  in  the  practical  politics  of  his 
community.  Always  he  believed  and  acted  the 
patriotism  of  peace  as  well  as  of  war. 

What  a  heritage  is  the  lesson  of  the  patriotism 
of  this  man  to  the  people  of  this  country !  What  a 
challenge  is  his  entire  experience  to  those  smug 
individuals  who  are  "too  busy"  or  "too  good"  to 
interest  themselves  in  public  affairs ;  who  sit  with 
their  hands  folded,  taking  no  part  in  govern 
mental  affairs,  expecting  everything  to  be  right 
while  they  share  no  part  in  the  burden !  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  never  too  busy  or  too  good  to  take 
part  in  the  practical  politics  of  his  community. 

Recognition  of  Lincoln's  true  greatness  has 
grown  steadily  since  he  died  a  martyr  to  a  great 
cause,  but  none  can  fail  to  realize  that  during  the 
past  few  years  it  has  been  enhanced  mightily 
throughout  the  world.  "There  goes  the  spirit  of 
Lincoln  at  the  head,"  ejaculated  the  premier  of 
England  when  he  saw  the  advance  guard  of 
American  soldiers  sweeping  forward  over  Flan 
ders.  Arid  when  the  awful  carnage  ceased,  the 
foremost  of  living  philosophers,  gazing  apprehen 
sively  into  the  troubled  future,  murmured  despair 
ingly,  "What  Europe  needs  now  is  a  Lincoln." 

If  an  Abraham  Lincoln  were  and  still  may  be 
the  chief  need  of  Europe,  how  much  more  surely 
should  he  be  the  guiding  star  of  his  own  native 
land,  the  only  land  he  ever  knew,  the  only  land  he 


INTRODUCTION  17 

ever  loved,  except  as  his  great  heart  was  ever 
filled  with  loving  kindness  for  all  mankind!  We 
have  not  the  man,  but  we  have  his  spirit;  we  have 
his  faith,  we  have  his  words : 

"History  is  the  voice  of  God  sounding  across 
the  centuries  the  laws  of  right  and  wrong." 

"Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  right,  and 
in  that  faith  let  us,  to  the  end,  dare  to  do  our  duty 
as  we  understand  it." 

WILL  H.  HAYS, 
Postmaster  General  of  the  United  States. 


JUDGMENT  ON  THE  MERWIN  DOCUMENTS 

THE  following  statement  is  self-explanatory: 
NEW  YORK,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  13,  1920. 

Charles  T.  White,  of  the  New  York  Tribune, 
whom  I  have  known  for  some  years,  has  asked  me 
to  pass  upon  certain  signed  orders  and  documents 
of  the  Civil-War  period  pertaining  principally  to 
the  activities  of  James  B.  Merwin. 

As  manager  of  the  War  Department  Telegraph 
Office  from  April,  1861,  to  August,  1866,  I  be 
came  familiar  with  the  handwriting  of  many  pub 
lic  men  whose  official  dispatches  were  transmitted 
through  the  War  Department.  I  do  not  under 
take  to  explain  the  purport  of  the  Merwin  docu 
ments.  They  furnish  presumptive  evidence  that 
Merwin  did  useful  work  under  the  direction  of 
President  Lincoln,  General  Winfield  Scott,  Gen 
eral  Butler,  and  others. 

I  recognize  a  number  of  the  autograph  signa 
tures,  and  believe  them  all  to  be  genuine,  as  well 
as  the  Merwin  documents  to  which  they  are  ap 
pended.  D.  H.  BATES, 

Author  of  Lincoln  in  tte  Telegraph  Office. 


God  raised  up  Abraham  Lincoln  to  lead. 

His  wisdom  is  a  legacy  to  the  children  of  men. 

His  humanity  challenges  human  selfishness. 

In  his  life  he  was  an  aggressive,  skillful,  unrelent 
ing  foe  of  the  liquor  traffic.  He  looked  for  the 
day  when  there  should  no  longer  be  in  America 
a  slave  or  a  drunkard. 

In  his  death  he  was  a  martyr  to  the  cause  of 
Truth  and  Progress. 

His  philosophy  fits  the  American  Present. 


CHAPTER  I 

LIQUOR  DRINKING   IN  THE   LINCOLN 
PERIOD 

INDULGENCE  in  the  use  of  spirituous  liquor 
during  the  early  part  of  the  Lincoln  period  was 
quite  universal.  Its  use  and  abuse  were  not  pe 
culiar  to  any  locality.  New  England  rum,  gin, 
and  brandy  found  their  way  to  the  remotest  ham 
lets  of  the  United  States.  Town  meetings,  mus 
ters,  firemen's  parades,  cattle  shows,  fairs,  and, 
in  short,  every  gathering  of  the  people  of  a  public 
or  social  nature  resulted  almost  invariably  in 
scenes  which  in  the  twentieth  century  would  shock 
people  into  indignation,  but  which  one  hundred 
years  ago  were  regarded  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Private  assemblies  were  little  better.  Weddings, 
balls,  parties,  huskings,  barn-raisings,  and  even 
funerals  were  dependent  upon  intoxicants,  while 
often  religious  conferences  and  ministerial  gath 
erings  resulted  in  an  increase  of  the  ordinary 
consumption  of  liquors. 

General  Neal  Dow,  the  father  of  prohibition,  in 
his  Reminiscences,  says  that  a  clergyman,  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Adams,  who  was  pastor  of  a  Congrega 
tional  church  in  Vassalboro  in  1817,  left  the  fol 
lowing  account  of  his  observations  when  he  first 
visited  Maine: 

21 


22  LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

"In  1817  the  common  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  as 
a  beverage  was  universal,  and  no  one  seemed  to 
regard  it  as  in  any  manner  improper.  No  retail 
merchant  thought  of  doing  business  without  keep 
ing  alcoholic  liquors  for  sale.  When  I  com 
menced  housekeeping  I  purchased  two  pairs  of 
decanters,  and  should  probably  have  felt  mortified 
when  visitors  called,  or  the  meeting  of  the  Minis 
ters'  Association  came  round,  had  they  not  been 
well  supplied  with  the  usual  variety.  I  well  recol 
lect  that,  on  settling  a  pretty  long  account  with 
a  merchant,  he  felt  so  well  pleased  at  getting  his 
pay  that  he  requested  me  to  bring  over  my  gallon 
jug  and  he  would  fill  it  with  brandy.  Of  course 
the  thing  was  done." 

General  Dow,  commenting  on  the  well-nigh  uni 
versal  use  of  alcoholic  beverages  says: 

"Go  into  any  old-time,  long-established  country 
store  in  Maine,  get  a  look  at  the  books,  if  you  can, 
covering  the  period  from  1820  down  to  1835  and 
40,  and  you  will  be  surprised  to  find,  as  I  have 
repeatedly  found,  that  the  majority  of  the  entries 
are  for  liquor  in  some  one  of  its  many  forms." 

General  Dow  quotes  from  D.  E.  Locke,  of  the 
Toledo  Blade,  a  friend  of  Abraham  Lincoln  during 
the  Civil  War,  as  follows: 

"I  was  shown  one  set  of  books  in  a  village  near 
Portland  of  ante-prohibition  times,  which  repre 
sented  a  business  in  goods  of  all  sorts.  Eighty- 
four  per  cent  of  the  entries  were  for  rum.  Boots 
and  shoes,  dress  goods,  sheeting  and  shirting,  hats 


LINCOLN  AND  PKOHIBITION  23 

and  caps  and  groceries,  appeared  at  rare  inter 
vals,  but  rum  was  splotched  over  every  page. 
Every  village  had  its  rum  shops,  and  those  of  any 
pretensions  scores  of  them.  Lawlessness  and 
order-breaking  were  common ;  brawls  and  fighting 
were  invariable  on  election  days  and  all  public 
occasions,  and,  in  short,  the  State  was  demoral 
ized  as  a  State  wholly  given  over  to  rum  always  is. 
It  was  the  regular  thing — rum,  slothfulness,  pov 
erty  and  lawlessness." 

The  foregoing  is  presented  as  perhaps  nearly 
typical  of  American  frontier  life  during  the  ear 
lier  part  of  the  Lincoln  period,  before  organized 
opposition  to  the  rum  traffic  began  to  make  itself 
felt  Thomas  Lincoln  and  his  son  Abraham  were 
frontiersmen. 


CHAPTER  II 
THOMAS  LINCOLN  AND  NANCY  HANKS 

THE  early  biographers  of  Lincoln,  writing 
under  the  shadow  of  his  towering  personality  and 
fame,  have  shown  scant  courtesy  to  Thomas  Lin 
coln,  father  of  Abraham,  and  pity,  rather  than 
justice,  to  Nancy  Hanks.  In  only  one  or  two 
biographies  are  Thomas  Lincoln  and  Nancy 
Hanks  treated  with  an  understanding  heart. 

Thomas  Lincoln,  at  the  time  he  married  Nancy 
Hanks,  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  owner  of  a  good 
set  of  tools  for  that  period,  and  worked  at  his 
calling  as  skillfully  as  the  average  craftsman  of 
his  time.  He  was  a  man  of  character  and  probity, 
and  at  maturity  was  recognized  as  a  sober-minded, 
melancholy-turned  man,  thoughtful  and  consid 
erate  far  beyond  his  years.  On  June  12,  1806, 
Thomas  Lincoln,  aged  twenty-seven,  and  Nancy 
Hanks,  twenty-three,  were  married  by  the  Rev. 
Jesse  Head,  a  Methodist  preacher  and  county 
judge.  The  ceremony  was  followed  by  a  largely 
attended  feast,  following  the  custom  of  the  coun 
tryside.  The  first  child,  Sarah,  was  born  in  1807. 
Nancy's  dowry  was  an  ordinary  quantity  of  house 
hold  bedding  and  linen.  The  Lincolns  were  hon 
est,  frugal,  generous,  and  helpful  among;  their 

24 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  25 

neighbors,  kind  and  agreeable  in  the  family, 
friendly,  sociable,  and  hospitable. 

"When  Thomas  Lincoln  and  Nancy  Hanks  were 
married,"  says  Dr.  Robert  H.  Browne,  a  Lincoln 
biographer,  "they  had  reached  full  maturity,  and 
were  in  the  prime  of  mental  and  physical  devel 
opment,  trained  and  seasoned  in  the  knowledge 
and  experience  common  among  their  fellow 
pioneers.  They  were  sound-minded,  able-bodied, 
healthy,  well-grown  people,  without  constitutional 
disease  or  infirmities.  They  had  sober,  temperate 
habits,  resolute  character,  and  were  as  free  and 
independent  as  they  were  strong  and  healthy." 

Thomas  Lincoln,  though  of  medium  size,  was 
possessed  of  prodigious  strength.  He  was  good- 
natured,  and  slow  to  anger,  but  when  imposed 
upon  by  some  drunken  bully  or  trouble-maker 
never  failed  to  take  care  of  himself,  and  invariably 
whipped  the  other  man.  The  thorough  trouncing 
he  gave  one  Abraham  Enloe,  a  trouble-making 
neighbor  nearly  a  foot  taller  than  himself,  and  the 
fact  that  Enloe  came  out  of  the  battle  scarred  for 
life,  probably  had  much  to  do  with  the  Lincolns 
"pulling  up  stakes"  and  moving  from  the  sterile 
soil  of  Hardin  County,  Kentucky,  to  the  wilds  of 
Southern  Indiana,  where  the  soil  was  rich,  game 
abundant,  and  where  there  were  no  reminders  of 
human  slavery. 

"Nancy  Hanks,"  continues  Mr.  Browne,  "was  a 
healthy,  pleasant-appearing,  confiding,  shapely- 
fashioned,  if  not  a  handsome  woman.  She  had 


26          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

more  than  an  ordinary  education  and  knowledge 
of  affairs  for  her  time.  She  could  read,  write,  and 
cipher,  and  along  with  her  cares  and  increasing 
responsibilities  taught  her  husband  these  rudi 
ments,  and  prospered  him  in  many  ways,  helping 
him  to  be  as  well  fitted  for  the  business  of  life  as 
any  of  his  neighbors." 

Mr.  Browne  says  that  shortly  after  the  Civil 
War  he  met  an  old  neighbor  of  the  Thomas  Lin- 
coins  near  Elizabethtown,  who  said  that  Thomas 
Lincoln  was  an  agreeable  man,  who  often  got  the 
"blues"  and  had  some  strange  sort  of  spells,  and 
who  wanted  to  be  alone  when  he  had  them;  that 
at  such  times  he  would  talk  about  God  and  his 
sacrifices,  and  how  there  was  a  better  land;  that 
Nancy  Hanks  was  "joyful"  about  the  prospect  of 
leaving  Kentucky;  that  young  Abe  was  a  "queer- 
ish"  sort  of  a  boy,  and  old  for  a  six-  or  seven-year- 
old  chap. 

"Taken  all  in  all,"  says  the  historian,  "there  is 
more  of  Thomas  Lincoln  and  more  to  his  credit 
than  can  be  found  in  the  fathers  of  Penn  or  Wash 
ington,  the  record  of  whose  lives  was  fairly  well 
kept  in  their  time." 


CHAPTER  III 
LINCOLN'S  HOME  TRAINING 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  had  a  home  training  which 
undoubtedly  contributed  to  his  total  abstinence 
from  strong  drink.  Mr.  Lincoln's  parents  were 
Christians.  Their  home  was  a  home  of  prayer, 
the  Bible  was  read  morning  and  evening,  and 
Thomas  Lincoln,  the  blundering,  unlettered,  some 
what  indolent  but  withal  good  man,  conducted 
himself  in  a  manner  to  make  the  boy  Abraham 
look  up  to  him,  obey  him,  and  respect  him,  all  of 
his  life.  It  is  a  significant  tribute  to  both  Thomas 
Lincoln  and  Abraham  Lincoln  that  in  a  com 
munity  where  the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages  was 
very  common  neither  father  nor  son  ever  became 
addicted  to  the  use  of  them.  So  far  as  the  writer 
has  been  able  to  discover,  Thomas  Lincoln  himself 
was  a  total  abstainer,  although  it  is  a  fact  that 
when  he  moved  from  Kentucky  he  included  among 
his  household  belongings  several  barrels  of  whis 
ky  which  he  intended  to  use  for  bartering  after 
he  located  near  Gentryville  in  Indiana. 

When  the  customs  of  the  time  included  free 
drinking  at  all  celebrations,  raisings,  fairs,  and 
large  political  gatherings,  it  is  somewhat  aston- 

27 


28          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

ishing  to  find  that  both  Thomas  Lincoln  and  his 
boy,  first  in  Kentucky  and  later  in  Indiana,  were 
able  to  fraternize  with  the  robust  men  of  the  coun 
tryside  without  forming  the  convivial  habit  which 
at  that  time  was  considered  by  the  majority  of 
people  as  almost  necessary  if  a  man  was  to  become 
a  social  factor  in  the  neighborhood.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  the  drinking  habit  at  that  time 
to  a  very  large  extent  was  a  substitute  for  other 
entertainment.  Books  were  scarce,  and  even  if 
there  had  been  available  books  in  sparsely  settled 
Kentucky  and  Southern  Indiana,  the  daily  asso 
ciates  of  Thomas  Lincoln  and  his  kind  could  not 
have  enjoyed  them,  for  the  very  good  reason  that 
the  average  man  in  that  part  of  the  country  at 
that  time  was  not  able  to  read  or  write.  Abraham 
Lincoln's  mother  was  considerably  above  the 
average  in  intelligence.  She  could  both  write  and 
read,  and  the  records  show  that  she  was  very 
careful  in  teaching  her  children  from  the  pages 
of  the  Bible. 

Charles  G.  Leland,  the  brilliant  journalist,  in 
commenting  on  the  early  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
says  that  Nancy  Hanks's  ability  to  read  and  write 
was  a  rare  accomplishment  in  those  days  in  the 
Kentucky  backwoods.  That  conditions  did  not 
improve  rapidly,  along  educational  lines,  is  indi 
cated  from  this  comment  by  Mr.  Leland:  "In 
1865  I  saw  many  companies  and  a  few  regiments 
mustered  out  in  Nashville,  Tennessee.  In  the 
most  intelligent  companies,  only  one  man  in  eight 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  29 

01  nine  could  sign  his  name.     Fewer  still  could 
read." 

Abraham  Lincoln's  total  abstinence,  dating 
from  childhood,  stands  out  in  remarkable  clear 
ness  against  a  background  of  this  sort. 


CHAPTER  IV 

LINCOLN'S  "FIRST  TEMPERANCE 
LECTURE" 

LINCOLN'S  adherence  to  total  abstinence  and  his 
readiness  to  urge  it  upon  others,  are  fitly  illus 
trated  by  a  narrative  in  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
the  Men  of  His  Time,  by  Robert  H.  Browne,  who 
knew  Lincoln  in  Springfield.  Mr.  Browne  says  that 
at  about  the  time  of  his  removal  from  New  Salem 
to  Springfield,  in  1836,  there  was  a  gathering  of 
the  neighborhood  and  village  where  they  were 
building  a  new  bridge.  When  the  hard  work  was 
over  there  was  a  feast,  merry-makings,  trials  of 
strength,  and  other  sports,  including  much 
liquor-drinking.  Raw  whisky  was  sold  at  fifteen 
cents  a  gallon,  and  on  this  occasion  there  was  a 
barrel  of  it.  In  the  feats  of  strength  a  large  man 
named  "Sam,"  the  champion  heavy-weight  lifter, 
with  difficulty  raised  six  inches  off  a  platform  a 
pile  of  wood  weighing  one  thousand  pounds. 

The  spectators,  knowing  Abraham  Lincoln's 
prowess  as  an  athlete,  at  once  demanded  that  he 
also  try  lifting  the  pile  of  wood.  Lincoln  was  re 
luctant  to  enter  the  exhibition,  but  finally  as 
sented,  and  lifted  the  load  clear  a  foot  from  the 
platform  "without  a  grunt  and  without  any 
straining."  Some  of  Sam's  friends  shouted,  "Do 
it  again ;  we  didn't  see  it !"  Mr.  Lincoln,  to  satisfy 

30 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION          31 

these,  stepped  on  the  platform  again,  saying  as  he 
did  so,  "Sam,  sit  down  on  top  of  the  pile."  With 
Sam  on  top  of  the  pile,  Lincoln  raised  the  big  load 
almost  as  easily  as  he  did  the  first  time. 

Then  the  bung  was  knocked  out  of  the  barrel  of 
whisky.  Lincoln,  being  challenged  again,  took  hold 
of  it  by  the  chimes,  raised  it  from  the  ground,  took 
a  mouthful  of  liquor  from  the  open  bunghole, 
turned  his  head  to  the  right,  and  spat  it  out  on  the 
ground  over  his  shoulder.  On  releasing  the  bar 
rel,  he  said  in  substance,  as  he  related  it  years 
afterward  when  invited  to  drink,  as  he  often  was, 
"That  reminds  me  of  the  first  temperance  lecture 
I  ever  made,"  following  which  he  related  the 
barrel-raising  incident  and  quoted  his  first  "tem 
perance  lecture": 

"My  friends,  you  will  do  well  and  the  best  you 
can  with  it,  to  empty  this  barrel  of  liquor  on  the 
ground,  as  I  threw  the  little  part  of  it  out  of  mjy 
mouth.  It  is  not  on  moral  grounds  alone  that  I 
am  giving  you  this  advice;  but  you  are  strong, 
healthy,  and  rugged  people.  It  is  as  true  as  that 
you  are  so  now  that  you  cannot  remain  so  if  you 
indulge  your  appetites  in  alcoholic  drinks.  You 
cannot  retain  your  health  and  strength  if  you 
continue  the  habit,  and  when  you  lose  them, 
neither  you  nor  your  children  are  likely  to  regain 
them.  As  a  good  friend,  without  counting  the 
distress  and  wreckage  of  mind,  let  me  advise,  that 
if  you  wish  to  remain  healthy  and  strong,  turn 
it  away  from  your  lips." 


CHAPTER  V 

LINCOLN'S  ESSAY  ON  TEMPERANCE  AT 
SEVENTEEN 

WILLIAM  H.  HERNDON,  for  twenty  years  Lin 
coln's  law  partner,  says1  that  Lincoln  prepared  a 
composition  on  the  American  government  and  one 
on  temperance  at  the  age  of  seventeen. 

"By  the  time  he  had  reached  his  seventeenth 
year,"  says  Herndon,  "he  had  attained  the  physi 
cal  proportions  of  a  full-grown  man.  He  was  em 
ployed  to  assist  James  Taylor  in  the  management 
of  a  ferryboat  across  the  Ohio  River,  near  the 
mouth  of  Anderson's  Creek  (southern  Indiana), 
but  was  not  allowed  a  man's  wages  for  the  work. 
He  received  thirty-seven  cents  a  day  for  what  he 
afterward  told  me  was  the  roughest  work  a  young 
man  could  be  made  to  do.  He  prepared  a  composi 
tion  on  the  American  government,  calling  atten 
tion  to  the  necessity  of  preserving  the  Constitu 
tion  and  perpetuating  the  Union,  which  with 
characteristic  modesty  he  handed  over  to  his  friend 
and  patron  William  Woods,  for  safe-keeping  and 
perusal.  Through  the  instrumentality  of  Woods 
it  attracted  the  attention  of  many  persons,  among 

1  Abraham  Lincoln,  by  William  H.  Herndon  and  Jesse  W. 
Weik,  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York,  publishers. 

32 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  33 

them  one  John  Pitcher,  who  afterward  became  a 
judge  and  lived  to  be  nearly  one  hundred  years 
of  age.  Mr.  Pitcher  lived  at  Roekport,  Indiana, 
and  all  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life  spoke 
with  the  greatest  enthusiasm  of  the  high  qualities 
of  the  composition.  An  article  on  temperance  was 
shown  under  similar  circumstances  to  Aaron 
Farmer,  a  Baptist  preacher  of  local  renown,  and 
by  him  furnished  to  an  Ohio  newspaper  for  pub 
lication." 


CHAPTER  VI 

BERRY  AND  LINCOLN  AS  "GROCERY 
KEEPERS" 

THE  liquor  interests,  in  order  to  embarrass  and 
get  the  "laugh"  on  the  advocates  of  temperance, 
repeatedly  have  charged  that  the  records  show 
that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  "grocery  keeper"  at 
New  Salem  in  the  early  thirties,  and  that  as  such 
he  sold  liquors  over  the  bar.  While  this  was  re 
garded  as  a  preposterous  fling  by  those  who  knew 
Lincoln,  and  later  by  those  who  carefully  studied 
his  career,  the  liquor  people  insisted  that  the 
records  sustained  their  contention.  They  had 
some  color  of  support  in  the  charge  made  by 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  in  the  first  of  the  celebrated 
joint  debates  at  Ottawa,  Illinois,  on  August  21, 
1858.  Douglas,  using  a  favorite  trick  of  the 
period,  charged  Lincoln  either  directly  or  by  in 
nuendo  with  many  trivial  things,  probably  in  the 
hope  that  Lincoln  would  consume  the  time  al 
lotted  for  serious  discussion  in  refuting  Douglas's 
nonsense.  One  of  these  charges  was  that  Lincoln 
was  "a  flourishing  grocery  keeper  in  the  town  of 
Salem"  at  the  time  that  he,  Douglas,  was  a  school 
teacher  in  the  town  of  Winchester  nearby.  Fur 
ther  along  Douglas,  continuing  in  his  bantering, 

34 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  35 

said,  "He  [Lincoln]  could  beat  any  of  the  boys 
wrestling  or  running  a  footrace,  in  pitching  quoits 
or  tossing  a  copper;  could  ruin  more  liquor  than 
all  the  boys  of  the  town  together." 

Lincoln  in  answering  Douglas  on  this  occasion 
took  time  to  consider  a  few  of  these  "little  follies" 
of  his  opponent,  as  he  termed  them,  saying :  "The 
Judge  is  woefully  at  fault  about  his  early  friend 
Lincoln  being  a  'grocery  keeper.'  I  don't  know  as 
it  would  be  a  great  sin  if  I  had  been;  but  he  is 
mistaken.  Lincoln  never  kept  a  grocery  anywhere 
in  the  world.  It  is  true  that  Lincoln  did  work  the 
latter  part  of  one  winter  in  a  little  still-house  up 
at  the  head  of  a  hollow." 

Leonard  Swett,  one  of  Lincoln's  closest  friends, 
who  "rode  the  circuit"  with  him  from  1848 
through  the  fifties,  in  a  reminiscence  of  Lincoln 
published  in  1886  by  Allen  Thorndike  Rice,  of  the 
North  American  Review,  dwells  upon  this  store- 
keeping  incident  in  the  life  of  Lincoln.  Mr.  Swett 
says  that  Lincoln,  in  describing  his  relations  with 
his  partner  Berry,  stated  that  a  difference  soon 
arose  between  him  and  his  partner  with  reference 
to  the  introduction  of  whisky  into  the  establish 
ment.  Berry  insisted  that,  on  the  principle  that 
honey  catches  flies,  a  barrel  of  whisky  in  the  store 
would  invite  customers,  and  their  sales  would  in 
crease,  while  Lincoln,  who  never  liked  liquor,  op 
posed  this  innovation.  "He  told  me,"  continues 
Mr.  Swett,  "not  more  than  a  year  before  he  was 
elected  President,  that  he  had  never  tasted  liquor 


36  LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

in  his  life.  What!'  I  said,  'do  you  mean  to  say 
you  never  tasted  it  T  'Yes,  I  never  tasted  it.'  The 
result  was  that  a  bargain  was  made  by  which 
Lincoln  should  retire  from  his  partnership  in  the 
store.  He  was  to  step  out  as  he  stepped  in,  and  he 
had  nothing  when  he  stepped  out.  But  the  part 
ner  took  all  the  goods,  and  agreed  to  pay  all  the 
debts,  for  a  part  of  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  become 
jointly  liable." 

Mr.  Swett  then  relates  how  Lincoln,  after  re 
turning  from  the  Black  Hawk  War,  "found  his  old 
partner  had  been  his  own  best  customer  at  the 
whisky  barrel,  and  that  all  the  goods  were  gone, 
but  having  failed  to  pay  the  debts,  there  were 
eleven  hundred  dollars  for  which  Lincoln  was 
jointly  liable.  I  cannot  forget  his  face  of  serious 
ness  as  he  turned  to  me  and  said :  'That  debt  was 
the  greatest  obstacle  I  have  ever  met  in  life;  I 
had  no  way  of  speculating,  and  I  could  not  earn 
money  except  by  labor,  and  to  earn  by  labor 
eleven  hundred  dollars  besides  my  living,  seemed 
the  work  of  a  lifetime.  There  was,  however,  but 
one  way.  I  went  to  the  creditors  and  told  them 
that  if  they  would  let  me  alone,  I  would  give  them 
all  I  could  earn,  over  my  living,  as  fast  as  I  could 
earn  it.' " 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  WASHINGTONIAN  MOVEMENT 

THE  Washingtonian  movement  was  organized  in 
Baltimore  on  April  6,  1840,  and  within  three  or 
four  years  it  had  extended  over  the  greater  part 
of  the  United  States.  Abraham  Lincoln  seems  to 
have  been  one  of  the  leaders  in  this  movement  in 
the  city  of  Springfield,  his  home,  as  shown  by  the 
memorable  address  made  by  him  on  February  22, 
1842,  and  given  elsewhere.  W.  K.  Mitchell,  a 
tailor;  J.  F.  Hoss,  a  carpenter;  David  Anderson 
and  George  Steers,  blacksmiths ;  James  McCurley, 
a  coachmaker;  and  Archibald  Campbell,  a  silver 
smith,  all  drinking  men  of  Baltimore,  met  and  re 
solved  to  reform.  Their  action  was  prompted  by 
the  impression  made  upon  one  of  the  members  of 
their  club  for  "social  tippling"  by  a  distinguished 
lecturer  on  temperance  who  spoke  in  Baltimore 
on  the  evening  of  April  second.  The  tippling  club, 
reorganized  into  "The  Washington  Society,"  not 
only  kept  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence  themselves 
but  induced  others  to  do  so.  The  movement  spread 
over  the  land,  until  six  hundred  thousand  drunk 
ards  had  signed  the  pledge,  of  whom  all  but  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  however,  subse 
quently  returned  to  their  cups.  Societies  for 

37 


38          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

women  known  as  Martha  Washington  societies, 
were  inaugurated  in  1841. 

The  force  of  the  Washingtonians  had  spent  it 
self  by  1843.  The  movement  depended  upon  moral 
suasion  alone,  many  of  its  most  zealous  support 
ers  opposing  all  resort  to  the  enactment  or  en 
forcement  of  laws  against  the  traffic.  Its  main 
service  was  preparing  the  ground  for  more  modern 
organizations  which  followed.  As  United  States 
Senator  H.  W.  Blair  remarks  of  the  Washing 
tonians  in  his  Temperance  Movement:  "There  was 
no  law.  Enthusiasm  from  its  very  nature  cannot 
stay.  An  explosion  may  after  a  while  be  repeated, 
but  it  is  a  poor  organizer.  .  .  .  All  the  same, 
the  explosion  is  good ;  it  rends  the  rock  and  is  in 
dispensable.  To  have  created  the  necessity  and 
to  have  made  the  way  for  such  an  order  as  the 
Sons  of  Temperance  was  of  itself  an  incalculable 
good ;  and  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  who 
were  steadfast  have  been  a  mighty  power  in  sub 
sequent  reform." 

Abraham  Lincoln  joined  the  Washingtonian 
movement  in  the  spirit  of  a  missionary.  On  the 
same  day  that  he  made  his  address  to  the  Wash 
ingtonians  in  Springfield  in  1842  he  wrote  a  letter 
to  George  E.  Pickett,  who  was  preparing  to  enter 
the  National  Military  Academy,  saying:  "I  have 
just  told  the  folks  here  in  Springfield  on  this  one 
hundred  and  tenth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  him 
whose  name,  mightiest  in  the  cause  of  civil  liberty, 
still  mightiest  in  the  cause  of  moral  reformation, 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  39 

we  mention  in  solemn  awe,  in  naked,  deathless 
splendor,  that  the  one  victory  we  can  ever  call 
complete  will  be  that  one  which  proclaims  that 
there  is  not  one  slave  or  one  drunkard  on  the  face 
of  God's  green  earth.  Recruit  for  this  victory." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

LINCOLN'S  ADDRESS  TO  THE 
WASHINGTONIANS 

THE  following  address  was  delivered  before  the 
Springfield  Washingtonian  Temperance  Society 
at  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  on  February 
22,  1842,  by  Abraham  Lincoln : 

Although  the  temperance  cause  has  been  in 
progress  for  nearly  twenty  years,  it  is  apparent 
to  all  that  it  is  just  now  being  crowned  with  a 
degree  of  success  hitherto  unparalleled. 

The  list  of  its  friends  is  daily  swelled  by  the 
additions  of  fifties,  of  hundreds,  and  of  thousands. 
The  cause  itself  seems  suddenly  transformed  from 
a  cold,  abstract  theory  into  a  living,  breathing, 
active,  and  powerful  chieftain,  going  forth  "con 
quering  and  to  conquer."  The  citadels  of  his  great 
adversary  are  daily  being  stormed  and  disman 
tled  ;  his  temples  and  his  altars,  where  the  rites  of 
his  idolatrous  worship  have  long  been  performed, 
and  where  human  sacrifices  have  long  been  wont 
to  be  made,  are  daily  desecrated  and  deserted. 
The  trump  of  the  conqueror's  fame  is  sounding 
from  hill  to  hill,  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  land  to 
land,  and  calling  millions  to  his  standard  at  a 
blast. 

40 


LINCOLN  IN  1847 — His  FIRST  PHOTOGRAPH 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  41 

For  this  new  aiid  splendid  success  we  heartily 
rejoice.  That  that  success  is  so  much  greater  now 
than  heretofore  is  doubtless  owing  to  rational 
causes;  and  if  we  would  have  it  continue,  we  shall 
do  well  to  inquire  what  those  causes  are. 

The  warfare  heretofore  waged  against  the 
demon  intemperance  has,  somehow  or  other,  been 
erroneous.  Either  the  champions  engaged,  or  the 
tactics  they  adopted,  have  not  been  the  most 
proper.  These  champions,  for  the  most  part,  have 
been  preachers,  lawyers,  and  hired  agents;  be 
tween  these  and  the  mass  of  mankind  there  is  a 
want  of  approachability ,  if  the  term  be  admissible, 
partial,  at  least,  fatal  to  their  success.  They  are 
supposed  to  have  no  sympathy  of  feeling  or  in 
terest  with  those  very  persons  whom  it  is  their 
object  to  convince  and  persuade. 

And,  again,  it  is  so  easy  and  so  common  to 
ascribe  motives  to  men  of  these  classes,  other  than 
those  they  profess  to  act  upon.  The  preacher,  it 
is  said,  advocates  temperance  because  he  is  a 
fanatic,  and  desires  a  union  of  the  church  and 
state;  the  lawyer  from  his  pride,  and  vanity  of 
hearing  himself  speak ;  and  the  hired  agent  for  his 
salary. 

But  when  one  who  has  long  been  known  as  a 
victim  of  intemperance  bursts  the  fetters  that 
have  bound  him  and  appears  before  his  neighbors 
"clothed  and  in  his  right  mind,"  a  redeemed 
specimen  of  long-lost  humanity,  and  stands  up 
with  tears  of  joy  trembling  in  his  eyes,  to  tell  of 


42  LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

the  miseries  once  endured  now  to  be  endured  no 
more  forever,  of  his  once  naked  and  starving  chil 
dren,  now  clad  and  fed  comfortably,  of  a  wife, 
long  weighed  down  with  woe,  weeping,  and  a 
broken  heart,  now  restored  to  health,  happiness, 
and  a  renewed  affection,  and  how  easily  it  is  all 
done,  once  it  is  resolved  to  be  done,  how  simple 
his  language!  There  is  a  logic  and  an  eloquence 
in  it  that  few  with  human  feelings  can  resist. 
They  cannot  say  that  he  desires  a  union  of  church 
and  state,  for  he  is  not  a  church-member;  they 
cannot  say  he  is  vain  of  hearing  himself  speak,  for 
his  whole  demeanor  shows  he  would  gladly  avoid 
speaking  at  all ;  they  cannot  say  he  speaks  for  pay, 
for  he  receives  none,  and  asks  for  none.  Nor  can 
his  sincerity  in  any  way  be  doubted  or  his  sym 
pathy  for  those  he  would  persuade  to  imitate  his 
example  be  denied. 

In  my  judgment  it  is  to  the  battles  of  this  new 
class  of  champions  that  our  late  success  is  greatly, 
perhaps  chiefly,  owing.  But  had  the  old-school 
champions  themselves  been  of  the  most  wise  se 
lecting?  Was  their  system  of  tactics  the  most 
judicious?  It  seems  to  me  it  was  not.  Too  much 
denunciation  against  dram-sellers  and  dram- 
drinkers  was  indulged  in.  This,  I  think,  was  both 
impolitic  and  unjust.  It  was  impolitic  because 
it  is  not  much  in  the  nature  of  man  to  be  driven  to 
anything,  still  less  to  be  driven  about  that  which 
is  exclusively  his  own  business,  and  least  of  all 
where  such  driving  is  to  be  submitted  to  at  the 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION          43 

expense  of  pecuniary  interest  or  burning  appetite. 
When  the  drain-seller  and  drinker  were  inces 
santly  told,  not  in  the  accents  of  entreaty  and  per 
suasion,  diffidently  addressed  by  erring  niaii  to  an 
erring  brother,  but  in  the  thundering  tones  of 
anathema  and  denunciation,  with  which  the  lordly 
judge  often  groups  together  all  the  crimes  of  the 
felon's  life,  and  thrusts  them  in  his  face  just  ere 
he  passes  sentence  of  death  upon  him,  that  they 
were  the  authors  of  all  the  vice  and  misery  and 
crime  in  the  land;  that  they  were  the  manufac 
turers  and  material  of  all  the  thieves  and  robbers 
and  murderers  that  infest  the  earth;  that  their 
houses  were  the  workshops  of  the  devil,  and  that 
their  persons  should  be  shunned  by  all  the  good 
and  virtuous,  as  moral  pestilences — I  say,  when 
they  were  told  all  this,  and  in  this  way,  it  is  not 
wonderful  that  they  were  slow,  very  slow,  to 
acknowledge  the  truth  of  such  denunciations,  and 
to  join  the  ranks  of  their  denouncers,  in  a  hue  and 
cry  against  themselves. 

To  have  expected  them  to  do  otherwise  than 
they  did — to  have  expected  them  not  to  meet  de 
nunciation  with  denunciation,  crimination  with 
crimination,  and  anathema  with  anathema — was 
to  expect  a  reversal  of  human  nature  which  is 
God's  decree,  and  can  never  be  reversed. 

When  the  conduct  of  men  is  designed  to  be  in 
fluenced,  persuasion,  kind,  unassuming  persuasion, 
should  ever  be  adopted.  It  is  an  old  and  true 
maxim  "that  a  drop  of  honey  catches  more  flies 


44          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

than  a  gallon  of  gall."  So  with  men.  If  you 
would  win  a  man  to  your  cause,  first  convince  him 
that  you  are  his  sincere  friend.  Therein  is  a 
drop  of  honey  that  catches  his  heart,  which,  say 
what  he  will,  is  the  great  high-road  to  his  reason, 
and  which,  when  once  gained,  you  will  find  but 
little  trouble  in  convincing  his  judgment  of  the 
justice  of  your  cause,  if,  indeed,  that  cause  really 
be  a  just  one.  On  the  contrary,  assume  to  dictate 
to  his  judgment,  or  to  command  his  action,  or  to 
mark  him  as  one  to  be  shunned  and  despised,  and 
he  will  retreat  within  himself,  close  all  the 
avenues  to  his  head  and  his  heart,  and  though  your 
cause  be  naked  truth  itself,  transformed  to  the 
heaviest  lance,  harder  than  steel,  and  sharper  than 
steel  can  be  made,  and  though  you  throw  it  with 
more  than  Herculean  force  and  precision,  you 
shall  be  no  more  able  to  pierce  him  than  to  pene 
trate  the  hard  shell  of  a  tortoise  with  a  rye- 
straw.  Such  is  man,  and  so  must  he  be  under 
stood  by  those  who  would  lead  him,  even  to  his 
own  best  interests. 

On  this  point  the  Washingtonians  greatly  excel 
the  temperance  advocates  of  former  times.  Those 
whom  they  desire  to  convince  and  persuade  are 
their  old  friends  and  companions.  They  know 
they  are  not  demons,  nor  even  the  worst  of  men ; 
they  know  that  generally  they  are  kind,  generous, 
and  charitable,  even  beyond  the  example  of  their 
more  staid  and  sober  neighbors.  They  are  prac 
tical  philanthropists;  and  they  glow  with  a  gen- 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  45 

erous  and  brotherly  zeal,  that  mere  theorizers  are 
incapable  of  feeling.  Benevolence  and  charity 
possess  their  hearts  entirely ;  and  out  of  the  abun 
dance  of  their  hearts  their  tongues  give  utter 
ance,  "Love  through  all  their  actions  runs,  and  all 
their  words  are  mild":  in  this  spirit  they  speak 
and  act,  and  in  the  same  they  are  heard  and  re 
garded.  And  when  such  is  the  temper  of  the  ad 
vocate,  and  such  of  the  audience,  no  good  cause 
can  be  unsuccessful.  But  I  have  said  that  denun 
ciations  against  dram-sellers  and  dram-drinkers 
are  unjust,  as  well  as  impolitic.  Let  us  see. 

I  have  not  inquired  at  what  period  of  time  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors  commenced;  nor  is  it 
important  to  know.  It  is  sufficient  that  to  all  of  us 
who  now  inhabit  the  world,  the  practice  of  drink 
ing  them  is  just  as  old  as  the  world  itself,  that  is, 
we  have  seen  the  one,  just  as  long  as  we  have  seen 
the  other.  When  all  such  of  us  as  have  now 
reached  the  years  of  maturity  first  opened  our 
eyes  upon  the  stage  of  existence,  we  found  intoxi 
cating  liquors  recognized  by  everybody,  used  by 
everybody,  repudiated  by  nobody.  It  commonly 
entered  into  the  first  draught  of  the  infant,  and 
the  last  draught  of  the  dying  man.  From  the  side 
board  of  the  parson  down  to  the  ragged  pocket  of 
the  houseless  loafer  it  was  constantly  found. 
Physicians  prescribed  it,  in  this,  that,  and  the 
other  disease ;  government  provided  it  for  soldiers 
and  sailors;  and  to  have  a  rolling  or  raising,  a 
husking  or  "hoe-down"  anywhere  about  without  it, 


46          LINCOLN  AND  PEOHIBITION 

was  positively  insufferable.  So  too  it  was  every 
where  a  respectable  article  of  manufacture  and  of 
merchandise.  The  making  of  it  was  regarded  as  an 
honorable  livelihood,  and  he  who  could  make  most 
was  the  most  enterprising  and  respectable.  Large 
and  small  manufactories  of  it  were  everywhere 
erected,  in  which  all  the  earthly  goods  of  their 
owners  were  invested.  Wagons  drew  it  from  town 
to  town ;  boats  bore  it  from  clime  to  clime,  and  the 
winds  wafted  it  from  nation  to  nation ;  and  mer 
chants  bought  and  sold  it,  by  wholesale  and  re 
tail,  with  precisely  the  same  feelings  on  the  part 
of  the  seller,  buyer,  and  by-stander  as  are  felt  at 
the  selling  and  buying  of  plows,  beef,  bacon,  or 
any  other  of  the  real  necessaries  of  life.  Univer 
sal  public  opinion  not  only  tolerated  but  recog 
nized  and  adopted  its  use. 

It  is  true,  that  even  then  it  was  known  and 
acknowledged  that  many  were  greatly  injured  by 
it;  but  none  seemed  to  think  the  injury  arose 
from  the  use  of  a  bad  thing,  but  from  the  abuse 
of  a  very  good  thing.  The  victims  of  it  were  to 
be  pitied  and  compassionated,  just  as  are  the  heirs 
of  consumption  and  other  hereditary  diseases. 
Their  failing  was  treated  as  a  misfortune,  and 
not  as  a  crime,  or  even  as  a  disgrace. 

If,  then,  what  I  have  been  saying  is  true,  is  it 
wonderful,  that  some  should  think  and  act  now  as 
all  thought  and  acted  twenty  years  ago,  and  is  it 
just  to  assail,  condemn,  or  despise  them  for  doing 
so  ?  The  universal  sense  of  mankind,  on  any  sub- 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  47 

ject,  is  an  argument,  or  at  least  aii  influence,  not 
easily  overcome.  The  success  of  the  argument  in 
favor  of  the  existence  of  an  overruling  Providence, 
mainly  depends  upon  that  sense;  and  men  ought 
not,  in  justice,  to  be  denounced  for  yielding  to  it 
in  any  case,  or  giving  it  up  slowly,  especially 
when  they  are  backed  by  interest,  fixed  habits,  or 
burning  appetites. 

Another  error,  as  it  seems  to  me,  into  which  the 
old  reformers  fell,  was  the  position  that  all  ha 
bitual  drunkards  were  utterly  incorrigible,  and 
therefore,  must  be  turned  adrift,  and  damned 
without  remedy,  in  order  that  the  grace  of  tem 
perance  might  abound  to  the  temperate  then  and 
to  all  mankind  some  hundreds  of  years  thereafter. 
There  is  in  this  something  so  repugnant  to  hu 
manity,  so  uncharitable,  so  cold-blooded  and  feel- 
ingless,  that  it  never  did  nor  never  can  enlist 
the  enthusiasm  of  a  popular  cause.  We  could  not 
love  the  man  who  taught  it — we  could  not  hear 
him  with  patience.  The  heart  could  not  throw 
open  its  portals  to  it,  the  generous  man  could  not 
adopt  it,  it  could  not  mix  with  his  blood.  It 
looked  so  fiendishly  selfish,  so  like  throwing 
fathers  and  brothers  overboard,  to  lighten  the  boat 
for  our  security — that  the  noble-minded  shrank 
from  the  manifest  meanness  of  the  thing.  And 
besides  this,  the  benefits  of  a  reformation  to  be 
effected  by  such  a  system  were  too  remote  in  point 
of  time,  to  warmly  engage  many  in  its  behalf. 
Few  can  be  induced  to  labor  exclusively  for  pos- 


48          LINCOLN  AND  PKOHIBITION 

terity;  and  none  will  do  it  enthusiastically.  Pos 
terity  has  done  nothing  for  us;  and  theorize  on  it 
as  we  may,  practically  we  shall  do  very  little  for 
it  unless  we  are  made  to  think,  we  are,  at  the 
same  time,  doing  something  for  ourselves. 

What  an  ignorance  of  human  nature  does  it  ex 
hibit,  to  ask  or  expect  a  whole  community  to  rise 
up  and  labor  for  the  temporal  happiness  of  others, 
after  themselves  shall  be  consigned  to  the  dust,  a 
majority  of  which  community  take  no  pains  what 
ever  to  secure  their  own  eternal  welfare  at  no 
greater  distant  day.  Great  distance  in  either  time 
or  space  has  wonderful  power  to  lull  and  render 
quiescent  the  human  mind.  Pleasures  to  be  en 
joyed,  or  pains  to  be  endured,  after  we  shall  be 
dead  and  gone,  are  but  little  regarded,  even  in  our 
own  cases,  and  much  less  in  the  case  of  others. 

Still,  in  addition  to  all  this,  there  is  something 
so  ludicrous  in  promises  of  good  or  threats  of 
evil,  a  great  way  off,  as  to  render  the  whole  sub 
ject  with  which  they  are  connected  easily  turned 
into  ridicule.  "Better  lay  down  that  spade  you're 
stealing,  Paddy.  If  you  don't,  you'll  pay  for  it 
at  the  Day  of  Judgment."  "Be  the  powers,  if  ye'll 
credit  me  so  long,  I'll  take  another  jist." 

By  the  Washingtonians  this  system  of  consign 
ing  the  habitual  drunkard  to  hopeless  ruin  is  re 
pudiated.  They  adopt  a  more  enlarged  philan 
thropy,  they  go  for  present  as  well  as  future  good. 
They  labor  for  all  now  living,  as  well  as  those 
hereafter  to  live.  They  teach  hope  to  all — despair 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  49 

to  none.  As  applying  to  their  cause,  they  deny 
the  doctrine  of  unpardonable  sin;  as  in  Chris 
tianity  it  is  taught,  so  in  this  they  teach : 

"While  the  lamp  holds  out  to  burn, 
The   vilest   sinner   may   return." 

And,  what  is  a  matter  of  the  most  profound  con 
gratulation,  they,  by  experiment  upon  experiment, 
and  example  upon  example,  prove  the  maxim  to 
be  no  less  true  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other. 
On  every  hand  we  behold  those  who  but  yesterday 
were  the  chief  of  sinners,  now  the  chief  apostles 
of  the  cause.  Drunken  devils  are  cast  out  by 
ones,  by  sevens,  by  legions ;  and  their  unfortunate 
victims,  like  the  poor  possessed,  who  was  re 
deemed  from  his  long  and  lonely  wanderings  in 
the  tombs,  are  publishing  to  the  ends  of  the  earth 
how  great  things  have  been  done  for  them. 

To  these  new  champions,  and  this  new  system  of 
tactics,  our  late  success  is  mainly  owing;  and  to 
them  we  must  mainly  look  for  the  final  consum 
mation.  The  ball  is  now  rolling  gloriously  on, 
and  none  are  so  able  as  they  to  increase  its  speed, 
and  its  bulk — to  add  to  its  momentum  and  its 
magnitude — even  though  unlearned  in  letters,  for 
this  task  none  are  so  well  educated.  To  fit  them 
for  this  work  they  have  been  taught  in  the  true 
school.  They  have  been  in  that  gulf,  from  which 
they  would  teach  others  the  means  of  escape.  They 
have  passed  that  prison  wall  which  others  have 
long  declared  impassable;  and  who  that  has  not 


50          LINCOLN  AND  PKOHIBITION 

shall  dare  to  weigh  opinions  with  them  as  to  the 
mode  of  passing? 

But  if  it  be  true,  as  I  have  insisted,  that  those 
who  have  suffered  by  intemperance  personally, 
and  have  reformed,  are  the  most  powerful  and  effi 
cient  instruments  to  push  the  reformation  to  ulti 
mate  success,  it  does  not  follow  that  those  who 
have  not  suffered  have  no  part  left  them  to  per 
form.  Whether  or  not  the  world  would  be  vastly 
benefited  by  a  total  and  final  banishment  from  it 
of  all  intoxicating  drinks  seems  to  me  not  now 
an  open  question.  Three  fourths  of  mankind  con 
fess  the  affirmative  with  their  tongues;  and,  I 
believe,  all  the  rest  acknowledge  it  in  their  hearts. 

Ought  any,  then,  to  refuse  their  aid  in  doing 
what  the  good  of  the  whole  demands?  Shall  he 
who  cannot  do  much  be,  for  that  reason,  excused 
if  he  do  nothing?  "But,"  says  one,  "what  good 
can  I  do  by  signing  the  pledge?  I  never  drink, 
even  without  signing."  This  question  has  already 
been  asked  and  answered  more  than  a  million  of 
times.  Let  it  be  answered  once  more.  For  the 
man,  suddenly  or  in  any  other  way,  to  break  off 
from  the  use  of  drams,  who  has  indulged  in  them 
for  a  long  course  of  years,  and  until  his  appetite 
for  them  has  grown  ten  or  a  hundredfold  stronger 
and  more  craving  than  any  natural  appetite  can 
be,  requires  a  most  powerful  moral  effort.  In 
such  an  undertaking  he  needs  every  moral  support 
and  influence  that  can  possibly  be  brought  to  his 
aid  and  thrown  around  him.  And  not  only  so, 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  51 

but  every  moral  prop  should  be  taken  from  what 
ever  argument  might  rise  in  his  mind  to  lure  him 
to  his  back-sliding.  When  he  casts  his  eyes  around 
him  he  should  be  able  to  see  all  that  he  respects, 
all  that  he  admires,  all  that  he  loves,  kindly  and 
anxiously  pointing  him  onward,  and  none  beckon 
ing  him  back  to  his  former  miserable  "wallowing 
in  the  mire." 

But  it  is  said  by  some,  that  men  will  think  and 
act  for  themselves;  that  none  will  disuse  spirits 
or  anything  else  because  his  neighbors  do;  and 
that  moral  influence  is  not  that  powerful  engine 
contended  for.  Let  us  examine  this.  Let  me  ask 
the  man  who  could  maintain  this  position  most 
stiffly  what  compensation  he  will  accept  to  go  to 
church  some  Sunday  and  sit  during  the  sermon 
with  his  wife's  bonnet  upon  his  head!  Not  a 
trifle,  I'll  venture.  And  why  not?  There  would 
be  nothing  irreligious  in  it,  nothing  immoral, 
nothing  uncomfortable — then  why  not?  Is  it  not 
because  there  would  be  something  egregiously  un 
fashionable  in  it?  Then  it  is  the  influence  of 
fashion ;  and  what  is  the  influence  of  fashion  but 
the  influence  that  other  people's  actions  have  on 
our  own  actions — the  strong  inclination  each  of 
us  feels  to  do  as  we  see  all  our  neighbors  do? 
Nor  is  the  influence  of  fashion  confined  to  any 
particular  thing  or  class  of  things.  It  is  just  as 
strong  on  one  subject  as  another.  Let  us  make  it 
as  unfashionable  to  withhold  our  names  from  the 
temperance  pledge,  as  for  husbands  to  wear  their 


52          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

wives'  bonnets  to  church,  and  instances  will  be 
just  as  rare  in  the  one  case  as  the  other. 

"But,"  say  some,  "we  are  no  drunkards,  and  we 
shall  not  acknowledge  ourselves  such,  by  joining 
a  reformed  drunkards'  society,  whatever  our  influ 
ence  might  be."  Surely,  no  Christian  will  adhere 
to  this  objection. 

If  they  believe,  as  they  profess,  that  Omnipo 
tence  condescended  to  take  on  himself  the  form  of 
sinful  man,  and,  as  such,  to  die  an  ignominious 
death  for  their  sakes,  surely,  they  will  not  refuse 
submission  to  the  infinitely  lesser  condescension, 
for  the  temporal,  and  perhaps  eternal  salvation,  of 
a  large,  erring,  and  unfortunate  class  of  their  fel 
low  creatures.  Nor  is  the  condescension  very 
great.  In  my  judgment  such  of  us  as  have  never 
fallen  victims  have  been  spared  more  from  the  ab 
sence  of  appetite  than  from  any  mental  or  moral 
superiority  over  those  who  have.  Indeed,  I  believe, 
if  we  take  the  habitual  drunkards  as  a  class,  their 
heads  and  their  hearts  will  bear  an  advantageous 
comparison  with  those  of  any  other  class.  There 
seems  ever  to  have  been  a  proneness  in  the  bril 
liant  and  warm-blooded  to  fall  into  this  vice — the 
demon  of  intemperance  ever  seems  to  have  de 
lighted  in  sucking  the  blood  of  genius  and  gener 
osity.  What  one  of  us  but  can  call  to  mind  some 
relative,  more  promising  in  youth  than  all  his 
fellows,  who  has  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  his  rapacity? 
He  ever  seems  to  have  gone  forth  like  the  Egyp 
tian  angel  of  death,  commissioned  to  slay,  if  not 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  53 

the  first,  the  fairest  born  of  every  family.  Shall 
he  now  be  arrested  in  his  desolating  career?  In 
that  arrest  all  can  give  aid  that  will;  and  who 
shall  be  excused  that  can,  and  will  not?  Far 
around  as  human  breath  has  ever  blown  he  keeps 
our  fathers,  our  brothers,  our  sons,  and  our  friends 
prostrate  in  the  chains  of  moral  death.  To  all 
the  living,  everywhere,  we  cry,  "Come,  sound  the 
moral  trump,  that  these  may  rise  and  stand  up  an 
exceeding  great  army." — "Come  from  the  four 
winds,  O  breath!  and  breathe  upon  these  slain, 
that  they  may  live."  If  the  relative  grandeur  of 
revolutions  shall  be  estimated  by  the  great  amount 
of  human  misery  they  alleviate,  and  the  small 
amount  they  inflict,  then,  indeed,  will  this  be  the 
grandest  the  world  shall  ever  have  seen. 

Of  our  political  revolution  of  '76  we  are  all 
justly  proud.  It  has  given  us  a  degree  of  political 
freedom  far  exceeding  that  of  any  other  nation 
of  the  earth.  In  it  the  world  has  found  a  solution 
of  the  long-mooted  problem  as  to  the  capability  of 
man  to  govern  himself.  In  it  was  the  germ  which 
has  vegetated,  and  still  is  to  grow  and  expand  into 
the  universal  liberty  of  mankind. 

But,  with  all  these  glorious  results,  past,  pres 
ent,  and  to  come,  it  had  its  evils  too.  It  breathed 
forth  famine,  swam  in  blood,  and  rode  in  fire ;  and 
long,  long  after,  the  orphans'  cry  and  the  widows' 
wail  continued  to  break  the  sad  silence  that  en 
sued.  These  were  the  price,  the  inevitable  price, 
paid  for  the  blessings  it  bought. 


54          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Turn  now  to  the  temperance  revolution.  In  it 
we  shall  find  a  stronger  bondage  broken,  a  viler 
slavery  manumitted,  a  greater  tyrant  deposed— 
in  it,  more  of  want  supplied,  more  disease  healed, 
more  sorrow  assuaged.  By  it,  no  orphans  starv 
ing,  no  widows  weeping.  By  it,  none  wounded  in 
feeling,  none  injured  in  interest;  even  the  dram- 
maker  and  dram-seller  will  have  glided  into  other 
occupations  so  gradually  as  never  to  have  felt  the 
change,  and  will  stand  ready  to  join  all  others 
in  the  universal  song  of  gladness.  And  what  a 
noble  ally  this,  to  the  cause  of  political  freedom, 
with  such  an  aid,  its  march  cannot  fail  to  be  on 
and  on,  till  every  son  of  earth  shall  drink  in  rich 
fruition  the  sorrow-quenching  draughts  of  perfect 
liberty.  Happy  day,  when,  all  appetites  con 
trolled,  all  passions  subdued,  all  matter  subju 
gated,  mind,  all-conquering  mind,  shall  live  and 
move,  the  monarch  of  the  world!  Glorious  con 
summation  !  Hail,  fall  of  fury !  Reign  of  reason, 
all  hail! 

And  when  the  victory  shall  be  complete — when 
there  shall  be  neither  a  slave  nor  a  drunkard  on 
the  earth — how  proud  the  title  of  that  Land, 
which  may  truly  claim  to  be  the  birth-place  and 
the  cradle  of  both  those  revolutions  that  shall  have 
ended  in  that  victory!  How  nobly  distinguished 
that  people,  who  shall  have  planted,  and  nur 
tured  to  maturity,  both  the  political  and  moral 
freedom  of  their  species. 

This  is  the  one  hundred  and  tenth  anniversary 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBIT  ION  55 

of  the  birthday  of  Washington — we  are  met  to 
celebrate  this  day.  Washington  is  the  mightiest 
name  of  earth — long  since  mightiest  in  the  cause 
of  civil  liberty,  still  mightiest  in  moral  reforma 
tion.  On  that  name  a  eulogy  is  expected.  It  can 
not  be.  To  add  brightness  to  the  sun,  or  glory  to 
the  name  of  Washington  is  alike  impossible.  Let 
none  attempt  it.  In  solemn  awe  we  pronounce  the 
name,  and  in  its  naked,  deathless  splendor  leave 
it  shining  on. 


CHAPTER  IX 
FATHER  MATHEW 

THE  temperance  movements  in  America — Wash- 
ingtonian  and  others — received  a  great  impetus 
from  the  visit  to  the  United  States  of  Father 
Theobald  Mathew  in  1849,  which  visit  was  pro 
longed  until  the  close  of  1851.  While  Lincoln  was 
not  identified  with  the  Father  Mathew  movement, 
a  record  of  it  is  indispensable  in  a  comprehensive 
survey  of  the  progress  of  temperance  in  America. 

Father  Mathew  was  born  in  Thomastown,  Tip- 
perary,  on  October  10,  1790,  and  died  at  Queens- 
town  on  December  8, 1856.  He  studied  at  Dublin, 
entered  the  Capuchin  order,  and  in  1838  estab 
lished  a  total  abstinence  association,  which  en 
rolled  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  name§  in 
less  than  nine  months.  After  preaching  and  work 
ing  in  various  cities  and  counties  in  Ireland,  he 
visited  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales. 

In  1849,  despite  a  stroke  of  paralysis  which 
partially  disabled  him,  he  yielded  to  the  solicita 
tion  of  friends  in  the  United  States,  and  sailed 
for  New  York.  His  fame  had  preceded  him.  In 
Ireland  he  had  been  the  coworker  of  Daniel  O'Con- 
nell,  the  agitator,  and  declared  publicly  his  sym 
pathy  for  many  of  the  principles  avowed  by  O'Con- 

56 


FATHER  THEOBALD  MATHEW,  TEMPERANCE  REFORMEB 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  57 

nell — especially  those  related  to  human  freedom. 
He  differed  from  O'Connell,  however,  in  keeping 
his  temperance  movement  free  from  politics.  His 
sympathy  for  the  American  slave  was  made  clear 
when  he  entertained  Frederick  Douglass  at  his 
home  in  Ireland.  The  famine  period  in  Ireland 
(184546),  prompting  generous  American  relief, 
greatly  warmed  Father  Mathew  toward  the 
United  States. 

He  was  welcomed  to  the  port  of  New  York  by 
great  crowds.  There  were  levees  in  the  City  Hall 
for  two  weeks.  Archbishop  Hughes  entertained 
him.  The  warm-hearted  priest  met  his  first  em 
barrassment  in  Boston,  where  he  was  invited  by 
William  Lloyd  Garrison  to  an  anti-slavery  meet 
ing.  He  had  been  advised  that  it  would  be  im 
politic  to  link  his  fortunes  with  the  Abolitionists, 
and  his  refusal  to  accept  Garrison's  invitation 
provoked  the  anger  of  the  anti-slavery  people. 
The  Governor  of  Georgia,  who  had  publicly  in 
vited  him  to  visit  that  State,  had  discovered  that 
he  was  sympathetic  toward  the  slave,  and  in  a 
most  offensive  letter  to  Father  Mathew  recalled 
his  invitation.  He  again  became  a  storm-center  in 
Washington,  where  he  was  the  guest  of  President 
Tyler  at  the  White  House,  and  of  the  United 
States  Senate.  On  motion  of  Senator  Walker,  of 
Wisconsin,  he  was  invited  to  sit  within  the  bar  of 
the  Senate.  Southern  senators  objected  to  such 
signal  honor  on  the  ground  that  he  was  a  partisan, 
with  anti-slavery  leanings.  A  spirited  debate  en- 


58          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

sued,  participated  in  by  Senators  Seward,  Clay, 
Cass,  Walker,  Hale,  Foote,  and  Badger,  the  north 
ern  senators  deprecating  the  introduction  of  the 
slavery  issue.  The  Walker  motion  prevailed, 
thirty-three  to  eighteen.  Even  this  incident  favor 
ably  advertised  Father  Mathew,  whose  audiences 
were  tremendous.  He  visited  Kichmond,  Savan 
nah,  Mobile,  Little  Rock,  Hot  Springs,  Vicksburg, 
Pensacola,  and  New  Orleans,  making  an  extended 
stay  at  the  latter  place,  where  more  than  twelve 
thousand  people  signed  the  total  abstinence 
pledge.  Notwithstanding  the  success  of  his  cru 
sade  here  and  the  desire  on  the  part  of  leading 
Americans  to  have  him  remain,  disquieting  news 
from  home  impelled  him  to  return  to  Ireland  in 
December,  1851.  In  his  absence  the  temperance 
cause  rapidly  declined,  even  in  cities  where  he 
had  established  temperance  reading  rooms.  The 
hard  labor  involved  in  recovering  lost  ground 
overtaxed  him.  He  visited  Madeira  in  1854,  with 
out  regaining  his  strength.  His  death  took  place 
in  Queenstown  two  years  later,  and  he  was 
buried  in  Cork. 

His  biographer,  John  Francis  Maguire,  M.P., 
says  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  the  perma 
nent  good  accomplished  by  Father  Mathew  wher 
ever  he  went.  While  many  of  the  pledge-takers 
relapsed  into  drunkenness,  many,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  permanently  reformed. 

In  the  United  States  the  Father  Mathew  move 
ment  served  to  stimulate  the  Washingtonians  and 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  59 

other  temperance  agitators,  and  to  advertise — if 
the  term  is  permissible — the  benefits  arising  from 
total  abstinence.  The  Father  Mathew  societies  of 
the  Eoman  Catholic  Church  still  attest  his 
memory. 


CHAPTER  X 
SONS  OF  TEMPERANCE 

THE  Sons  of  Temperance  was  organized  Sep 
tember  29,  1842,  in  New  York  city,  the  object  of 
the  society  being  thus  described  upon  its  official 
records : 

"To  shield  its  members  from  the  evils  of  intem 
perance,  to  afford  mutual  assistance  in  case  of 
sickness,  and  to  elevate  their  characters  as  men." 
Women  were  not  admitted.  The  organization  was 
modeled  in  some  respects  after  Masonic  ideas.  At 
the  close  of  1846  the  membership  numbered  one 
hundred  thousand,  an  increase  of  sixty  thousand 
in  one  year. 

Profiting  by  the  experience  of  the  Washing- 
tonians,  General  Gary,  the  chief  officer,  said  in 
1849:  "We  must  seal  up  the  fountain  whence 
flows  the  desolating  stream  of  death,"  and  the 
National  Division  declared,  "The  mission  of  the 
order  is  to  secure  the  utter  annihilation  of  the 
manufacture  of  and  traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks," 
and  that  "we  desire,  will  have,  and  will  enforce 
laws,  in  our  respective  local  cities,  for  the  sup 
pression  of  this  .  .  .  business." 

In  1866  women  were  admitted  to  membership 
and  office-holding  on  an  equality  with  men. 

60 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  61 

During  the  Civil  War  the  nation-wide  anti- 
slavery  struggle  supplanted  every  other  interest; 
"the  order  nearly  disappeared  from  the  Southern 
States";  over  two  hundred  Sons  of  Temperance 
boys  fought  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union; 
"widespread  paralysis  settled  upon  the  order." 
As  soon  as  the  war  ended,  however,  it  began  to  re 
vive,  and  in  1872  numbered  nearly  ninety-four 
thousand  members. 

The  society  has  always  taken  great  interest  in 
enrolling  boys  and  girls  in  its  ranks.  In  1890 
at  Ocean  Grove,  New  Jersey,  the  National  Di 
vision  called  into  existence  "The  Loyal  Crusader" 
and  in  1910  the  different  juvenile  divisions  were 
consolidated  as  "Crusaders  of  Temperance." 

At  the  present  date  the  order  represents  the 
oldest  temperance  society  existent  in  the  United 
States.  Subordinate,  Grand,  and  National  Di 
visions  of  it  have  been  organized  in  Great  Britain, 
Canada,  and  Australia. 

Lincoln  assured  a  deputation  of  the  Sons  of 
Temperance  waiting  upon  him  on  September  29, 
1863,  i^n  behalf  of  the  suppression  of  liquor-drink 
ing  in  the  Army,  that  they  had  his  friendship  and 
sympathy,  his  words  being  as  follows : 

"If  I  were  better  known  than  I  am,  you  would 
not  need  to  be  told  that  in  the  advocacy  of  the 
cause  of  temperance  you  have  a  friend  and  sym 
pathizer  in  me.  When  I  was  a  young  man — long 
ago — before  the  Sons  of  Temperance  as  an  or 
ganization  had  an  existence — I,  in  a  humble  way, 


62          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

made  temperance  speeches,  and  I  think  I  may  say 
that  to  this  day  I  have  never,  by  my  example,  be 
lied  what  I  then  said.  I  think  that  the  reasonable 
men  of  the  world  have  long  since  agreed  that  in 
temperance  is  one  of  the  greatest,  if  not  the  very 
greatest,  of  all  evils  among  mankind.  That  is  not 
a  matter  of  dispute,  I  believe.  That  the  disease 
exists,  and  that  it  is  a  very  great  one,  is  agreed 
upon  by  all.  The  mode  of  cure  is  one  about  which 
there  may  be  differences  of  opinion.  You  have 
suggested  that  in  an  army — our  army — drunken 
ness  is  a  great  evil,  and  one  which,  while  it  exists 
to  a  very  great  extent,  we  cannot  expect  to  over 
come  so  entirely  as  to  have  such  successes  in  our 
arms  as  we  might  have  without  it.  This  undoubt 
edly  is  true,  and  while  it  is  perhaps  rather  a  bad 
source  to  derive  comfort  from,  nevertheless  in  a 
hard  struggle  I  do  not  know  but  what  it  is  some 
consolation  to  be  aware  that  there  is  some  in 
temperance  on  the  other  side  too;  and  that  they 
have  no  right  to  beat  us  in  physical  combat  on 
that  ground." 


CHAPTER  XI 
LINCOLN  AND  PLEDGE  SIGNING 

LINCOLN'S  aggressive  adherence  to  temperance 
propaganda  is  adequately  set  forth  in  the  Rev. 
Louis  Albert  Banks's  book,  "The  Lincoln  Legion," 
wherein  it  is  shown  that  following  an  address  by 
Mr.  Lincoln  in  1846  or  47  at  the  South  Fork 
schoolhouse,  Cotton  Hill  township,  Sangamon 
County,  Illinois,  Preston  Breckinridge,  his  ten- 
year-old  son,  Cleopas,  R.  E.  Berry,  Moses  Martin, 
George  Miller,  and  Uriah  Hughes,  all  of  whom 
heard  Lincoln,  signed  the  pledge  at  the  time  at  the 
suggestion  of  Lincoln.  Dr.  Howard  H.  Russell, 
organizer  of  the  Anti-Saloon  League  in  1900, 
hunted  up  Cleopas  Breckinridge,  R.  E.  Berry  and 
Moses  Martin  at  their  respective  homes  and  ob 
tained  affidavits,  which  were  printed.  After  Lin 
coln  had  finished  his  address  he  drew  from  his 
pocket  a  paper,  which  he  called  the  "Washington 
Pledge,"  and  added :  "It  is  the  same  pledge  many 
thousands  of  people  have  signed  in  connection  with 
the  work  of  the  Washingtonian  Society  through 
out  the  country.  I  have  signed  this  pledge  my 
self,  and  would  be  glad  to  have  as  many  of  my 
neighbors  who  are  willing  to  do  so,  sign  the  same 
pledge  with  me." 


64  LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Lincoln  asked  the  Breckinridge  boy  his  name, 
and,  on  being  told  that  the  youngster  could  not 
write,  he  signed  his  name  for  him,  and  then  with 
his  hand  on  the  head  of  the  lad  he  said : 

"Now,  sonny,  you  keep  this  pledge,  and  it  will 
be  the  best  act  of  your  life."  Berry  kept  the 
pledge,  which  follows : 

"Whereas,  the  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  as  a 
beverage  is  productive  of  pauperism,  degradation, 
and  crime,  and  believing  it  is  our  duty  to  discour 
age  that  which  produces  more  evil  than  good,  we 
therefore  pledge  ourselves  to  abstain  from  the  use 
of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage." 


CHAPTER  XII 

LINCOLN'S  INDORSEMENT  OF  HIS  PAS 
TOR'S  RADICAL  TEMPERANCE  VIEWS 

LINCOLN  seems  to  have  indorsed  and  circulated 
the  radical  temperance  views  of  his  pastor,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  James  Smith,  pastor  of  the  First  Presby 
terian  Church,  of  Springfield,  where  Lincoln  was 
a  pewholder  and  regular  attendant.  On  January 
23,  1853,  Dr.  Smith  delivered  an  address  in 
Springfield  on  the  drink  evil — a  radical  utter 
ance  at  a  time  when  prohibition  sentiment  was 
strong  in  Illinois.  On  the  following  day  Spring 
field  citizens  addressed  to  Mr.  Smith  a  letter  in 
which  they  said:  "The  undersigned  having  lis 
tened  with  great  satisfaction  to  the  discourse  on 
the  subject  of  temperance,  delivered  by  you  last 
evening,  and  believing  it  would  be  productive  of 
good,  would  respectfully  request  a  copy  thereof 
for  publication."  The  copy  was  furnished,  the 
address  was  published  in  a  sixteen-page  pamphlet, 
and  on  the  title  page  in  the  list  of  those  signing 
the  above  request  appears  the  name  "A.  Lincoln." 
Tradition  says  that  Lincoln  was  the  prime  mover 
in  securing  the  publication.  Eleven  years  before, 
in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  Springfield, 
Lincoln  had  delivered  his  address  to  the  Wash- 
ingtonians,  found  elsewhere  in  this  book. 

65 


CHAPTER  XIII 

LINCOLN  AND  THE  ILLINOIS 
PROHIBITION  CAMPAIGN 

LINCOLN  biographers,  who  have  not  identified 
Lincoln  with  the  campaign  for  State  prohibition 
in  Illinois  in  1855,  doubtless  will  object  at  this 
late  date  to  the  association  of  his  name  with  that 
movement.  The  documentary  proof  is  not  the 
only  answer  to  any  query  raised.  The  burden  of 
proof  inevitably  will  be  upon  those  who  contend 
that  Lincoln  did  not  take  a  leading  part  in  that 
campaign.  In  addition  to  the  testimony  pre 
sented  is  the  inherent  proof  in  the  established 
facts  surrounding  that  campaign  and  the  legisla 
tion  in  the  Illinois  Legislature  leading  up  to  it. 
The  surprising  vote  given  for  prohibition  at  the 
referendum  election  in  June,  1855,  was  not  an 
accident.  The  propaganda  was  by  the  friends  of 
temperance.  Lincoln  at  that  time  and  for  years 
before  was  an  avowed  temperance  man.  The  mem 
bers  of  the  Illinois  Legislature  who  voted  through 
the  prohibition  law,  which  by  the  way,  is  the 
first  law  in  the  "Public  Laws  of  Illinois  for  1855," 
were  "Lincolnian"  in  their  political  thought  and 
conduct.  Generally  speaking,  they  were  Repub 
licans,  Whigs,  anti-slavery  and  churchgoing 

66 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION          67 

people.  Very  many  of  them  were  then,  and  after 
ward,  Lincoln's  friends  and  political  associates. 

"He  never  stepped  too  soon,  and  he  never 
stepped  too  late,"  said  Charles  A.  Dana.  In  the 
fall  and  early  winter  of  1854  and  early  part  of 
1855  Lincoln  was  contesting  for  the  United  States 
senatorship.  Doubtless  he  had  good  reason,  up  to 
the  time  a  senator  was  chosen,  for  refraining  from 
too  intimate  identification  with  the  State  prohi 
bition  movement.  It  is  a  rather  violent  assump 
tion  that  he  was  not  keenly  interested  in  it.  Any 
such  assumption  would  be  unwarranted  in  the 
absence  of  proof  to  the  contrary,  but  when  the 
proof  to  the  contrary  is  submitted  such  assump 
tion  must  give  way.  Perhaps  Lincoln's  own 
method  of  reasoning  when  brought  to  bear  upon 
a  point  like  this  may  prove  illuminating.  In  a 
speech  delivered  at  Springfield  at  the  close  of  the 
Republican  State  Convention,  June  17,  1858,  in 
which  he  practically  charged  the  slavery  sym 
pathizers  with  conspiracy,  he  made  this  lucid 
statement : 

"But  when  we  see  a  lot  of  framed  timbers,  dif 
ferent  portions  of  which  we  know  have  been  gotten 
out  at  different  times  and  places  and  by  different 
workmen — Stephen,  Franklin,  Roger,  and  James, 
for  instance — and  when  we  see  these  timbers 
joined  together,  and  see  they  exactly  make  the 
frame  of  a  house  or  a  mill,  all  the  tenons  and  mor 
tices  exactly  fitting,  and  all  the  lengths  and  pro 
portions  of  the  different  pieces  exactly  adapted  to 


68  LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

their  respective  places,  and  not  a  piece  too  many 
or  too  few — not  omitting  even  scaffolding — or, 
if  a  single  piece  be  lacking,  we  see  the  place  in  the 
frame  exactly  fitted  and  prepared  to  bring  such 
piece  in — in  such  a  case,  we  find  it  impossible  not 
to  believe  that  Stephen  and  Franklin  and  Roger 
and  James  all  understood  one  another  from  the 
beginning,  and  all  worked  upon  a  common  plan 
or  draft  drawn  up  before  the  first  blow  was 
struck." 

By  the  same  reasoning,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
prophet  of  an  ultimate  extinction  of  slavery  and 
drunkenness,  took  a  leading  part  in  the  campaign 
for  State  prohibition  in  Illinois. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE    ILLINOIS    PROHIBITION    LAW    AND 
ITS  AUTHORSHIP 

INVESTIGATORS  only  recently  came  to  an  agree 
ment  that  Abraham  Lincoln  wrote  the  1855  Pro 
hibition  Law.  The  statement  in  the  history  of  Il 
linois  by  Davidson  &  Stuve,  that  B.  S.  Edwards,  a 
Springfield  lawyer,  framed  the  Prohibition  Law, 
and  another  statement  by  the  Springfield  corres 
pondent  of  the  Chicago  Daily  Press  that  Stephen 
T.  Logan,  Lincoln's  former  law  partner,  probably 
wrote  it,  are  not  in  conflict  in  the  light  of  recent 
research. 

Henry  B.  Rankin,  of  Springfield,  author  of 
Personal  Recollections  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  who 
made  a  thoroughgoing  search,  under  date  of  Feb 
ruary  28,  1921,  in  a  letter  to  the  writer,  says : 

"Lincoln  prepared  the  first  draft  of  the  Law  for 
submission  to  the  Legislature.  He  took  it  over  to 
Judge  S.  T.  Logan's  office  for  any  change  the 
Judge  thought  should  be  made.  They  both  dis 
cussed  the  act  as  Lincoln  had  drawn  it.  The 
Judge  held  the  manuscript  several  days  and  added 
such  revisions  and  changes  as  he  deemed  would 
facilitate  its  adoption  by  the  Legislature,  and  took 
it  back  to  Lincoln.  Lincoln  approved  of  the 

69 


70          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Judge's  alterations.  They  then  canvassed  the 
matter  as  to  who  would  be  most  proper  to  present 
it  to  some  members  of  the  Legislature  to  bring 
before  the  Legislature. 

"Lincoln  advised  that  they  both  go  over  to  the 
law  offices  of  Stuart  and  Edwards  (both  of  whom 
had  gone  over  from  the  Whig  to  the  Democratic 
Party  after  the  compromise  measures  of  1850  had 
been  passed)  and  submit  the  manuscript  to  B.  S. 
Edwards,  and  if  he  approved  it,  then  to  insist  that 
he  bring  it  before  such  members  of  the  Legisla 
ture — on  the  Democratic  side — who  would  intro 
duce  it  free  of  any  of  the  Whig  odor  of  Logan  or 
the  Free-Soil  Whigism  of  Lincoln. 

"This  was  done.  Edwards  consented,  and 
adopted  the  act  as  they  had  prepared  it.  He 
copied  the  manuscript  in  his  own  handwriting 
and  interested  his  party  friends  in  the  Legislature 
to  secure  its  adoption. 

"All  three  thus  had  a  hand  in  it.  I  heard  Ed 
wards,  in  a  speech  in  the  courthouse  at  Petersburg 
in  1855  advocating  its  adoption  by  the  referendum 
then  before  the  State,  say  that  he  wrote  the  Law. 
This  was  in  answer  to  an  inquiry  about  the 
'Search  and  Seizure  clause'  and  its  true  meaning, 
and  he  showed  (to  his  party  friend's  satisfaction) 
that  it  preserved  the  good  Jacksonian  doctrine 
that  'every  man's  private  house  was  his  castle' 
and  inviolable." 

James  B.  Merwin,  corresponding  secretary  of 
the  Illinois  State  Maine  Law  Alliance,  under  au- 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  71 

thority  and  payment  to  push  the  work,  says  that 
Abraham  Lincoln  wrote  the  Law  in  December, 
after  his,  Merwin's,  arrival  in  Springfield,  and 
describes  his  first  meeting  with  Lincoln,  and  says 
that  Dr.  Nathan  S.  Davis,  of  Chicago,  the  leading 
physician  of  that  city  and  an  aggressive  temper 
ance  advocate,  took  charge  of  the  Chicago  work. 
He  says  that  Dr.  Davis  regarded  Lincoln  at  that 
time  as  a  sort  of  political  mountebank,  and  would 
not  engage  in  the  prohibition  crusade  until  he 
was  assured  that  Lincoln  was  not  to  dominate. 
Mr.  Merwin  says  that  William  B.  Ogden,  also  a 
strong  temperance  advocate,  president  of  the 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway  and  former 
mayor  of  Chicago,  started  the  subscription  list  for 
the  prosecution  of  the  work  with  twenty-five 
hundred  dollars  on  the  express  condition  that 
Lincoln  should  guide  the  campaign.  Lincoln 
therefore  had  a  double  reason  at  the  inception  of 
the  campaign  for  not  assuming  a  spectacular 
prominence  in  the  work.  He  was  his  party's 
choice  for  United  States  senator,  and  the  Chicago 
temperance  men  led  by  Dr.  Davis,  on  account 
of  Dr.  Davis's  personal  prejudice,  were  somewhat 
hostile  toward  him.  Merwin  always  asserted  that 
Lincoln  was  the  brains  of  the  movement,  and  that 
on  Lincoln's  direction  he  carried  the  text  of  the 
proposed  Law,  before  introduction,  to  Lincoln's 
lawyer  friends  for  them  to  pass  judgment  upon  it. 
In  addition  to  the  referendum  clause,  the  first 
instance,  it  is  said,  that  an  important  State-wide 


72  LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

law  in  Illinois  carried  such  a  submission  feature, 
the  act  contained  a  clause  which  indicates  that  its 
framer  aimed  to  make  the  wife,  or  the  widowed 
mother  of  a  drunkard's  sons,  a  material  witness, 
for  it  says : 

"Section  38.  Any  married  woman  who  shall 
complain  that  liquor  has  been  sold  to  her  husband 
contrary  to  law,  or  any  widow  who  shall  complain 
that  liquor  has  been  sold  to  her  son  or  sons  con 
trary  to  law,  may  in  the  stead  or  place  of  the  two 
residents  required  by  Section  12  of  that  Act  make 
the  complaint  mentioned  in  Section  12,  or  any 
other  section  of  this  Act,  and  may  institute  and 
carry  on  any  prosecution  provided  by  this  Act." 

This  suggests  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  from  his  ex 
perience  as  a  lawyer,  recognized  the  fact  that  the 
home  as  well  as  the  addict  was  entitled  to  more 
adequate  protection,  and  his  Law  provided  that 
the  word  of  the  wife  or  widow  might  be  accepted 
as  of  equal  value  with  the  word  of  two  ordinary 
witnesses. 


CHAPTER  XV 
PRESS  COMMENTS  ON  THE  DRY  LAW 

THE  record  in  the  Chicago  daily  newspapers  of 
the  progress  of  the  so-called  Maine  Law,  through 
the  debating  period  until  its  final  passage 
through  both  Houses,  is  amply  sufficient  to  show 
that  this  piece  of  temperance  legislation  en 
grossed  the  attention  of  the  lawmakers  at  Spring 
field  as  hardly  anything  else  during  the  session  of 
1855. 

The  Springfield  correspondent  of  the  Chicago 
Daily  Press  of  December  30,  1854,  writes  this 
paragraph  with  reference  to  the  observance  of 
the  temperance  law  in  Springfield  at  that  time : 

"Most  important  of  all  recent  improvements  is 
the  entire  suppression  of  the  open  liquor  traffic. 
An  acquaintance  of  mine  has  been  very  con 
stantly  employed  for  the  last  two  days  in  a  fruit 
less  search  for  a  glass  of  ale." 

Under  date  of  January  4,  1855,  the  same  cor 
respondent  writes  from  Springfield  to  the  same 
paper : 

"It  is  confidently  believed  here  that  the  Maine 
Law  will  be  enacted  at  the  present  session." 

The  issue  of  this  paper  of  January  5  carries  a 
half-column  editorial  praising  the  Rev.  J.  V.  Wat- 

73 


74          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

son,  editor  of  the  Northwestern  Christian  Advo 
cate.  This  is  the  same  gentleman  who,  according 
to  the  affidavit  of  Major  Merwin,  was  present  at 
the  time  when  Abraham  Lincoln  presented  the 
gold  watch  to  Mr.  Merwin  for  his  services  in  con 
nection  with  the  propaganda  work  of  the  Maine 
Law  Alliance.1 

Under  date  of  January  5,  the  correspon 
dent,  writing  of  the  legislative  doings  in 
Springfield,  says:  "Logan  [doubtless  referring 
to  Mr.  Lincoln's  one-time  law  partner,  Stephen 
Logan]  introduced  a  bill  to  repeal  the  laws  au 
thorizing  the  granting  of  licenses." 

January  6 — "Logan's  bill  was  up  for  debate. 
This  act  paves  the  way  for  a  stringent  law  which 
is  to  follow." 

January  16 — "The  Maine  Law  Alliance  is  now 
in  daily  session  [in  Springfield]." 

January  20 — The  same  correspondent  tells  of 
the  debate  on  the  Maine  Law  bill,  starting  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  continuing  until 
eleven  at  night,  with  the  legislative  chamber  and 
corridors  packed  as  he  never  saw  them  before. 
"I  am  informed,"  writes  the  correspondent,  "that 
Judge  Logan  had  most  to  do  in  giving  legal  shape 
to  the  bill." 

The  bill  was  passed  at  eleven  o'clock  after  a 
stormy  debate. 

Ayes — Allen  of  Madison,  Babcock,  Bennett, 
Boal,  Brown  of  Knox,  Cline,  Courtney,  Day,  Dig- 

1  See  note,  p.  86. 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION          75 

gins,  Dunlop,  Foss,  Foster,  Grove,  Hackney, 
Henry,  Henderson,  Hills,  Johns,  Lawrence,  Lee, 
Little,  Logan,  Lovejoy,  Lyman,  McClure,  McClun, 
McClain,  Moulton,  Parks  of  Logan,  Parks  of  Will, 
Patten,  Pinckney,  Richmond  of  Cook,  Riblatt, 
Rice,  Sargeant,  Straun,  Sullivan,  Swan,  Turner, 
Waters,  Wheeler — 42. 

Noes — Allen  of  Williamson,  Bradford,  Brown 
of  Scott,  Dearborn,  Gray,  Gregg,  Heath,  Higbie, 
Hinch,  Hosmer,  Hopkins,  Holiday,  Kinney,  Mar 
tin,  McDaniel,  Morrison,  Preston,  Pursely,  Raw- 
lings,  Richmond  of  Montgomery,  Richmond  of 
Schuyler,  Sams,  Seeborn,  Towner,  Trapp,  Walker 
—26. 

The  same  correspondent's  dispatch  on  February 
2  records  that  there  were  petitions  presented  in 
the  Senate  and  House  in  favor  of  the  Maine  Law. 

February  9 — The  Prohibition  bill  was  taken  up 
in  the  Senate,  discussed  and  passed  with  a  vote 
of  17  ayes  and  7  noes. 

Although  the  passage  of  the  Maine  Law  had 
been  the  uppermost  topic  during  the  session,  as 
soon  as  the  decisive  votes  were  taken  it  became  a 
secondary  topic  of  interest.  Almost  immediately 
the  senatorial  contest  resulting  in  election  of 
Lyman  Trumbull  crowded  other  news  into  the 
background. 

The  Chicago  Daily  Press  on  March  7  began  the 
publication  of  the  new  Prohibition  Law,  carrying 
it  in  four  daily  installments. 

On  June  4  the  same  paper  carried  a  news  article 


76  LINCOLN  AND  PKOHIBITION 

about  a  prohibition  rally  in  the  city  of  Chicago 
on  June  2  in  which  three  thousand  children  took 
part  with  the  weather  ten  degrees  above  freezing. 
The  banners  and  slogans  displayed  in  the  street 
parades  were  strikingly  similar  to  those  used  by 
the  temperance  people  in  later  years.  This  dem 
onstration  was  almost  immediately  prior  to  the 
referendum  vote  taken  throughout  the  State  on 
the  adoption  of  the  Prohibition  Law.  Chicago 
city  voted  against  prohibition  by  a  vote  of  3,864 
against,  to  2,795  for. 

The  comment  of  the  daily  papers  of  Chicago  on 
the  election  and  its  results  seemed  to  sustain  the 
contention  of  Major  Merwin  that  the  temperance 
people  were  robbed  of  an  honest  victory  through 
gross  fraud.  The  Chicago  Daily  Press  of  June  6 
says :  "The  7th  Ward  gave  759  against,  and  only 
84  for  prohibition.  At  the  last  municipal  elec 
tion  this  ward  polled  593  votes,  being  333  less  than 
was  polled  there  on  Monday."  The  same  paper 
enters  into  an  analysis  of  the  vote  in  various 
wards  in  the  city  where  the  brewers  were  in  al 
most  undisputed  control,  quoting  figures  to  show 
that  the  ballot  boxes  probably  had  been  stuffed. 

This  same  newspaper  in  an  editorial  on  June  9, 
conceding  the  defeat  of  prohibition,  closed  with 
this  prophecy:  "Their  [the  prohibitionists'] 
triumph,  though  delayed  for  a  time,  must  be  cer 
tain." 

A  recently  published  letter  written  by  Abraham 
Lincoln  to  Norman  B.  Judd  presents  clear  proof 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION          77 

that  the  "powers  of  darkness"  which  Lincoln  op 
posed  maintained  supremacy  through  the  illegal 
use  of  the  ballot.  Lincoln  and  his  friends  battling 
for  prohibition  encountered  the  liquor  business  in 
1855,  and  the  liquor  men  won.  With  a  recollec 
tion  of  this  same  kind  of  fraud,  Lincoln  in  the 
1858  campaign  for  the  United  States  senatorship, 
writes  as  follows  to  his  friend  Judd : 

ASHVILLE,   Oct.   20,   1858. 
Hon.  N.  B.  Judd, 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  now  have  a  high  degree  of  confidence 
that  we  shall  succeed,  if  we  are  not  overrun  with  fraudu 
lent  votes  to  a  greater  extent  than  usual.  On  alighting 
from  the  cars  and  walking  the  square  at  Naples  on 
Monday,  I  met  about  fifteen  Celtic  gentlemen,  with 
black  carpet  sacks  in  their  hands. 

I  learned  that  they  had  crossed  over  from  the  railroad 
in  Brown  County,  but  where  they  were  going  no  one 
could  tell.  They  dropped  in  about  the  doggeries,  and 
were  still  hanging  about  them  when  I  left.  At  Brown 
County  yesterday  I  was  told  that  about  four  hundred  of 
the  same  sort  were  to  be  brought  into  Schuyler,  before 
the  election,  to  work  on  some  new  railroad,  but  on 
reaching  here  I  find  Bagby  thinks  that  is  not  so.  What  I 
most  dread  is  that  they  will  introduce  into  the  doubtful 
districts  numbers  of  men  who  are  legal  voters  in  all  re 
spects  except  residence,  and  who  will  swear  to  residence, 
and  thus  put  it  beyond  our  power  to  exclude  them.  They 
can  and  I  fear  will  swear  falsely  on  that  point,  because 
they  know  that  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  convict  them 
of  perjury  upon  it. 

Now  the  great  reassuring  fact  of  the  campaign  is 
finding  a  way  to  head  this  thing  off.  Can  it  be  done 
at  all? 


78          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

I  have  a  bare  suggestion.  When  there  is  a  known 
body  of  these  voters,  could  not  a  true  man  of  the  "de 
tective"  class,  be  introduced  among  them  in  disguise, 
who  could,  at  the  nick  of  time,  control  their  votes? 
Think  this  over.  It  would  be  a  great  thing,  when  this 
trick  is  attempted  upon  us,  to  have  the  saddle  come  up 
on  the  other  horse. 

I  have  talked  more  fully  than  I  can  write,  to  Mr. 
Scripps,  and  he  will  talk  to  you. 

If  we  can  head  off  the  fraudulent  votes  we  shall  carry 
the  day. 

Yours  as  ever, 

A.  LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
ILLINOIS   DRY   LAW,   FEBRUARY   12,   1855 

THE  campaign  for  the  passage  of  the  Illinois 
prohibition  law,  like  the  Maine  Law,  was  waged 
for  months  previous  to  its  passage.  Both  the 
Senate  and  the  Legislature  which  met  in  January, 
1855,  were  dry,  being  controlled  by  the  Republi 
cans  and  Whigs.  Probably  by  consent  of  the 
leaders,  containing  many  of  Lincoln's  personal 
friends,  and  his  former  law  partner,  Judge  Ste 
phen  T.  Logan,  the  prohibition  measure,  contain 
ing  a  submission,  or  referendum  clause,  was  dis 
posed  of  first.  It  was  passed  by  the  Legislature 
on  January  20,  1855,  by  a  vote  of  42  to  26,  and 
by  the  Senate  on  February  9,  by  a  vote  of  17  to  7. 
As  soon  as  the  lower  house  had  passed  it,  its  ul 
timate  passage  was  assured.  It  was  signed  on 
Lincoln's  birthday,  February  12,  1855.  It  failed 
of  final  enactment  at  the  referendum  election  on 
June  4,  1855,  by  a  vote  of  93,102  against,  to  79,- 
010  for. 

As  elsewhere  set  forth,  the  supporters  of  the 
measure  doubtless  would  have  prevailed  if  they 
had  received  a  "square  deal." 

The  passage  of  the  bill  by  the  Legislature  and 
its  enactment  through  the  signature  of  Governor 

79 


80          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Matteson  afforded  an  interim  of  several  months 
for  a  campaign  throughout  the  State  for  its  adop 
tion.  Lincoln,  on  February  8,  1855,  had  been  de 
feated  by  Lyman  Truinbull  for  the  United  States 
senatorship.  He  now  was  free  to  assist  the  tem 
perance  forces. 

With  great  shrewdness  Lincoln  and  those  who 
collaborated  with  him  in  framing  the  Law,  in 
corporated  a  section  providing  for  the  printing  in 
pamphlet  form  of  fifty  thousand  copies  of  the  Act 
immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Legis 
lature,  and  the  sending  of  five  hundred  copies  to 
each  county  in  the  State  for  general  distribution. 
It  was  the  proper  distribution  of  these  pamphlets 
that  took  Merwin,  who  was  the  corresponding 
secretary  of  the  Illinois  State  Maine  Alliance, 
around  the  State,  and  Lincoln  accompanied  him 
to  many  of  the  county  seats. 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  who  three  years  later  de 
feated  Lincoln  for  the  United  States  Senate  fol 
lowing  their  joint  debates  over  the  extension  of 
slavery,  doubtless  caused  the  defeat  of  the  prohi 
bition  measure.  At  that  time  he  had  a  stronger 
political  following  than  had  Lincoln.  A.  J.  Baber, 
banker  of  Paris,  Illinois,  writing  under  date  of 
January  14,  1914,  to  Dr.  John  G.  Woolley,  says: 

"Politics  never  entered  the  question  until 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  came  out  in  a  great  speech 
in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State  and  told 
the  people  to  bury  'Maine  Lawism'  and  'Abolition 
ism'  all  in  the  same  grave.  Then  the  Democrats 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  81 

knew  what  to  do.  They  went  in  with  a  whoop 
against  prohibition,  and  the  Whigs  and  Republi 
cans  were  mostly  for  prohibition." 

In  his  letter  to  John  Gr.  Woolley  printed  in  The 
New  Republic,  a  temperance  journal  edited  by 
William  E.  ("Pussyfoot")  Johnson,  in  1914,  Mr. 
Baber  corroborates  the  contention  of  James  B. 
Merwin  that  Abraham  Lincoln  spoke  in  support 
of  the  1855  Illinois  prohibition  law.  Mr.  Baber 
says: 

"I  don't  know  how  often  Mr.  Lincoln  spoke, 
but  I  will  call  your  attention  to  one  time.  While 
at  court  session  in  1855  my  business  called  me  to 
Paris  (111.),  and  I  saw  Lincoln,  Ficklin,  Linder 
and  Judge  Harlan  sitting  in  the  shade  of  the  Paris 
House,  and  I  went  to  where  they  were.  Becoming 
acquainted  with  all  of  them,  they  invited  me  to 
sit  down.  I  did  so,  and  very  soon  Lincoln  spoke 
up  and  said  that  Colonel  Baldwin  had  invited  him 
to  come  to  his  place  and  make  a  temperance 
speech,  and  it  was  about  time  he  was  going. 
Linder  and  Ficklin  opposed  his  going — rather 
made  sport  of  him,  and  Harlan  said :  'Let  him  go. 
He  will  prove  to  the  people  that  they  have  some 
rights  besides  what  is  in  a  jug.'  Baldwin  was  to 
come  after  Lincoln,  and  didn't  come  in  time,  and 
Lincoln  started  afoot  and  walked  to  the  place  of 
speaking,  six  miles  out.  Lincoln  expected  to  meet 
Baldwin  coming,  but  Baldwin  came  another  road, 
and  he  missed  him.  It  was  a  hot  day,  and  Lincoln 
wore  a  long  linen  duster,  and  made  the  trip  just 


82          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

to  make  a  temperance  speech — walked  six  miles 
on  a  hot  day." 

This  corroborative  evidence  by  Mr.  Baber,  an 
entirely  competent  and  conservative  man,  that 
Lincoln  campaigned  for  the  dry  law  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1855,  although  he  was  supposed  to  be  so 
much  engrossed  with  the  anti-slavery  agitation  as 
not  to  be  able  to  do  so,  and  the  further  fact  that 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  threw  his  power  against  the 
prohibition  law,  is  of  more  than  passing  interest. 
Both  incidents  are  exactly  in  harmony  with  the 
life  practices  and  professed  principles  of  the  two 
men — Lincoln  believing  that  a  moral  idea  was  the 
mightiest  thing  beneath  the  throne  of  God,  and 
Douglas  not  caring  whether  it  was  or  not. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

COLD  WATER  ONLY  AT  SPRINGFIELD 
NOTIFICATION 

LINCOLN'S  adherence  to  total  abstinence  was 
impressively  illustrated  at  his  home  in  Springfield 
following  his  nomination  for  President  when  the 
committee  on  notification,  headed  by  Mr.  Ash- 
mun,  waited  upon  him.  Charles  Carleton  Coffin, 
journalist  and  historian,  was  in  the  party.  After 
the  formalities  were  over  with,  Mr.  Lincoln  said : 

"Mrs.  Lincoln  will  be  pleased  to  see  you  in  the 
other  room,  gentlemen.  You  will  be  thirsty  after 
your  long  journey.  You  will  find  something  re 
freshing  in  the  library." 

There  were  drinking  men  in  the  delegation,  and 
what  they  expected  to  find  in  the  other  room  to 
allay  thirst  may  be  imagined.  The  only  liquid  at 
their  disposal  was  a  pitcher  of  cold  water — no 
wines  or  liquors.  The  night  before  neighbors  of 
the  Lincolns  had  called  on  them  and  suggested 
that  the  visiting  delegation  would  need  some  re 
freshment,  wines  or  liquors. 

"I  haven't  any  in  the  house,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln. 

"We  will  furnish  them/'  said  one  of  the  callers. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "I  cannot  allow 
you  to  do  what  I  will  not  do  myself." 

83 


84  LINCOLN  AND  PKOHIBLTION 

That  was  not  the  end  of  it.  Democratic  citizens 
of  Springfield,  thinking  that  their  city  had  been 
highly  honored  by  the  nomination,  sent  over  some 
baskets  of  champagne.  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  them 
back,  thanking  them  for  their  intended  kindness. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  PROHIBITION  WATCH 

AFTER  the  prohibition  campaign  was  over,  and 
before  James  B.  Merwin  left  the  State  to  go  to 
Michigan  to  do  temperance  work,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
after  conference  with  others  interested  in  tem 
perance,  got  up  a  purse,  bought  a  handsome  gold 
watch  and  chain,  and  after  writing  an  inscription 
which  was  engraved  on  the  inside  case,  presented 
it  to  Merwin  in  the  office  of  the  Northivestern 
Christian  Advocate,  in  the  presence  of  the  editor, 
J.  V.  Watson,  and  others.  The  inscription  in  the 
watch  reads : 

"Presented  by  the  friends  of  temperance  in 
Chicago  to  J.  B.  Merwin,  Corresponding  Secretary 
of  the  Illinois  State  Maine  Law  Alliance,  as  a 
token  of  their  confidence  and  regard  for  his  un 
tiring  energy  and  perseverance  in  the  campaign 
of  1855  for  Prohibition." 

Below  these  lines  appear  the  words:  "Inscrip 
tion  written  by  Abraham  Lincoln." 

Mr.  Merwin  made  the  following  affidavit  Octo 
ber  12,  1916 : 

"The  aforesaid  watch  was  presented  to  me  in 
the  year  1855,  the  presentation  taking  place  in  the 
editorial  rooms  of  the  Northwestern  Christian 

85 


86  LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Advocate,  there  being  present  at  the  time  the 
editor  of  the  Advocate,  J.  V.  Watson,  Abraham 
Lincoln,1  and  others  interested  in  the  cause  of 
State  prohibition  at  that  time.  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  a  contributor  to  the  fund  for  the  purchase 
of  the  watch,  and  wrote  the  watch  inscription  in 
corporated  in  this  deposition. 

"Abraham  Lincoln  had  been  associated  with 
me  in  campaigning  for  more  than  six  months, 
and  without  solicitation  or  prompting  on  the  part 
of  anyone,  and  wholly,  as  I  believe,  from  personal 
regard,  wrote  the  inscription  already  referred 
to." 

This  affidavit,  duly  signed  and  witnessed,  is  in 
possession  of  the  writer. 

New  York  watch  experts  have  valued  the  watch 
as  having  cost  between  two  hundred  and  three 
hundred  dollars  when  it  was  bought  new  in  the 
fifties.  Merwin  carried  the  timepiece  all  of  his 
life.  He  said  that  he  once  dropped  it  in  a  mud- 
hole  during  the  war,  but  that  it  was  recovered  by 
a  negro,  who  was  paid  twenty-five  dollars  to  walk 
around  in  the  mudhole  in  his  bare  feet  until  he 
found  it.  The  watch,  at  last  accounts,  was  the 
property  of  the  grandson  of  Lynian  A.  Mills,  of 
Middlefield,  Connecticut,  whose  wife  is  a  younger 
sister  of  the  late  Mrs.  J.  B.  Merwin. 


i  The  files  of  the  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate  corroborate  this  incident 
except  as  to  the  presence  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 


CHAPTEK  XIX 

ABOUT  CHAPLAIN  JAMES  B.  MERWIN 
AND  LINCOLN 

THE  Rev.  James  B.  Merwin,  whose  labors  and 
documents  form  an  impressive  link  connecting 
Abraham  Lincoln  with  aggressive  interest  in  the 
suppression  of  intemperance  and  the  passage  of 
a  prohibition  State  law  in  Illinois  in  1855,  was 
born  in  Cairo,  Greene  County,  New  York,  in  1829. 

Merwin  prepared  for  Amherst  College  at  the 
Brookfield  Academy  in  Connecticut.  He  became 
the  editor  of  a  temperance  paper  called  The  Foun 
tain  in  the  city  of  Hartford.  He  was  appointed 
the  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Connecticut 
Temperance  Society  early  in  the  fifties,  and  with 
others  made  a  successful  fight  for  State-wide  pro 
hibition  in  Connecticut,  following  the  prohibition 
victory  in  Maine  in  1851.  After  the  Civil-War 
period  he  settled  in  Saint  Louis,  where  for  twenty 
years  he  was  the  publisher  of  the  American  Jour 
nal  of  Education.  He  died  in  Brooklyn  on  April 
3,  1917,  and  was  buried  at  New  Britain,  Con 
necticut,  with  military  honors  by  a  local  Grand 
Army  post.  He  is  spoken  of  by  those  who  knew 
him  well  and  heard  him  as  a  most  effective  and 
eloquent  temperance  worker  and  lecturer  on  tem 
perance,  also  frequently  lecturing  on  Shakespeare. 

87 


88          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

The  temperance  history  of  the  period  shows 
that  in  nearly  all  of  the  Northern  States  the  anti- 
liquor  people  waged  campaigns  for  the  passage  of 
prohibition  laws  like  the  Maine  Law.  The  tem 
perance  people  in  Illinois  sent  for  Merwin  to  take 
up  the  work  there.  His  own  narrative,  given  else 
where,  tells  of  the  beginning  of  his  association 
with  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  addressed  a  tem 
perance  gathering  in  the  State  House  the  night 
of  Merwin's  arrival  in  Springfield. 

After  the  defeat  of  the  prohibition  law  in  Il 
linois  in  the  referendum  election  in  June,  1855, 
Merwin  went  to  Michigan  and  other  points,  where 
he  busied  himself  with  temperance  agitation  until 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War.  The  record 
shows  that  he  was  regularly  ordained  as  a  Con 
gregational  clergyman,  and  the  documentary 
proof  is  unassailable  that  President  Lincoln,  on 
his  own  initiative,  directed  him  to  make  temper 
ance  addresses  to  the  soldiers.  In  order  to  fa 
cilitate  this  work  President  Lincoln  wrote  for  him 
a  special  pass,  which  is  of  exceeding  interest  on 
account  of  its  peculiarity.  It  reads  as  follows : 

Surgeon-General  will  send  Mr.  Merwin  wherever  he 
may  think  the  public  service  may  require. 

July  24,  1862.  A.  LINCOLN. 

The  pass  is  peculiar  in  that  in  writing  it  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  had  to  make  the  five  lines  fit  the 
space  on  the  inside  of  an  old-fashioned  daguerreo 
type  case.  Mr.  Merwin  says  that  the  President 


JAMES  B.  MERWIN'S  ARMY  PASS 
WRITTEN  BY  LINCOLN 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  89 

prepared  this  pass  with  his  own  hand,  and  on  his 
own  initiative.  This  pass  is  owned  by  the  writer 
of  this  volume. 

The  preparation  of  Merwin's  pass  was  subse 
quent  to  an  ineffectual  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
President  and  friends  of  Merwin  to  have  Merwin 
commissioned  a  major  of  volunteers,  under  in 
struction  to  do  temperance  work  among  the 
soldiers  in  the  army.  The  frustration  of  the  ef 
forts  to  have  Merwin  appointed  a  major  affords 
a  most  interesting  side-light  on  Lincoln's  deter 
mination  to  have  temperance  work  done  among 
the  soldiers,  the  support  of  the  idea  by  the  most 
powerful  men  close  to  Lincoln  in  the  Senate  and 
House,  and  the  obstacles  put  in  the  way  of  the 
carrying  out  of  the  idea  by  the  War  Department. 

As  indicated  by  the  documents,  facsimiles  of 
which  are  given,  the  plan  to  install  Merwin  as  a 
temperance  worker  in  the  army  started  on  the 
suggestion  of  the  President  himself  by  the  sign 
ing  of  a  memorial  setting  forth  the  desirability  of 
having  the  work  done.  This  memorial  was  signed 
by  President  Lincoln's  most  stalwart  supporters. 
The  mere  mention  of  these  names  in  connection 
with  the  plan  is  of  significance  as  supporting  Mer 
win's  repeated  contention  that  President  Lincoln 
sustained  him  during  the  war  period  in  his  tem 
perance  work.  The  memorial  apparently  was' 
written  either  by  Charles  Sumner  or  Governor 
William  A.  Buckingham  of  Connecticut. 

On  the  back  of  this  memorial,  most  of  which 


90          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

document  is  in  the  possession  of  the  writer,  are 
the  following  indorsements: 

If  it  be  ascertained  at  the  War  Department  that  the 
President  has  legal  authority  to  make  an  appointment 
such  as  is  asked  within,  and  Gen.  Scott  is  of  opinion  it 
will  be  available  for  good,  then  let  it  be  done. 

July  17,  1861.  A.  LINCOLN. 

I  esteem  the  mission  of  Mr.  Merwin  to  the  Army  a 
happy  circumstance,  and  request  all  commanders  to 
give  him  free  access  to  all  of  our  camps  and  posts  and 
also  to  multiply  occasions  to  enable  him  to  address  our 
officers  and  men. 

Signed 

July  24,  1861.  WINFIELD  SOOTT. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  VIRGINIA. 

The  mission  of  Mr.  Merwin  will  be  of  great  benefit  to 
the  troops,  and  I  will  furnish  him  with  every  facility 
to  address  the  troops  under  my  command.  I  hope  the 
General  commanding  the  army  will  give  him  such  offi 
cial  position  as  Mr.  Merwin  may  desire  to  carry  out 
his  object. 

B.  F.  BUTLER, 
Major-General  Commanding. 

August  8,  1861. 

This  document,  carrying  in  order  the  Lincoln, 
Scott,  and  Butler  recommendations,  was  sent  to 
the  War  Department.  According  to  Mr.  Merwin, 
the  officials  there  "lost"  it,  and  it  was  not  "found" 
again  until  President  Lincoln  himself  sent  a  sharp 
note  to  the  War  Department  asking  for  its  return. 
Merwin  was  not  appointed  a  major  of  volunteers, 
the  War  Department  officials  objecting  on  the 


(^  tyr^jZLe^ytr  (»<T  ";';•;/•;• 

I,-  *V<U  *4  ^ '  *  '"^ 

i&4  iST^pm  7;'r 

?MjM^  f-    "      x  V- 


v;^       &p*'^ "/— '      )v  /« j 

LINCOLN  AND  GENERALS  SCOTT  AND  BUTLER  PETITION  TO 
HAVE  JAMES  B.  MERWIN  DESIGNATED  AS  A  TEMPERANCE 
WORKER  IN  THE  ARMY 

(Plate  A) 


I 


f 


L 


DISTINGUISHED  PUBLIC  MEN  PETITION  TO  HAVE  JAMES 
B.  MERWIN  DESIGNATED  AS  A  TEMPERANCE  WORKER  IN 
THE  ARMY 

(Plate  B) 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  91 

ground  that  Merwin  was  merely  a  clergyman,  that 
he  was  lame,  and  that  it  would  be  subversive  of 
discipline  and  correct  administration  to  make  him 
a  major.  Lincoln  and  Merwin  did  not  abandon 
their  idea,  however,  for  Merwin  later  was  ap 
pointed  a  chaplain  of  volunteers  and  assigned  to 
duty  under  Surgeon-General  William  A.  Ham 
mond  and  C.  McDougall.  General  McDougall, 
who  was  medical  director  of  the  Department  of 
the  East,  with  headquarters  in  New  York  city, 
writing  under  date  of  January  8,  1863,  to  Senator 
James  Harlan  says: 

"Mr.  Merwin  has  been  my  invaluable  cooperator 
in  the  good  work  in  the  Department  of  New  York 
and  it  is  not  necessary  to  tell  you  what  a  worker 
he  is — his  services  are  known  to  the  whole  Army." 

The  petition  for  placing  Chaplain  Merwin 
where  he  could  do  temperance  work  among  the 
soldiers,  President  Lincoln's  plan,  deserves  more 
than  passing  mention  because  of  the  character 
and  standing  of  the  signers.  Students  of  Civil- 
War  history  cannot  but  be  impressed  by  the 
prominence  of  the  men  who  sponsored  Merwin. 
Charles  Sumner  and  Henry  Wilson  were  United 
States  senators  from  Massachusetts;  James  R. 
Doolittle  and  Timothy  O.  Howe  were  United 
States  senators  from  Wisconsin ;  Lyman  Trumbull 
and  O.  H.  Browning  were  the  senators  from  Il 
linois,  and  close  to  the  President;  Isaac  N. 
Arnold,  representative  from  Illinois,  was  a  close 
personal  friend  of  Lincoln,  served  in  the  House 


92          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

with  him,  and  afterward  was  his  biographer; 
David  Wilmot,  author  of  the  notable  Wilmot  Pro 
viso,  was  senator  from  Pennsylvania ;  James  Har- 
lan  and  James  W.  Grimes  were  senators  from 
Iowa.  Senator  Harlan  wTas  father-in-law  of  Rob 
ert  T.  Lincoln,  the  surviving  son  of  President  Lin 
coln.  Thomas  A.  Hicks  was  governor  of  Mary 
land  ;  Alexander  Ramsey  was  governor  of  Minne 
sota;  Samuel  Kirkwood  was  governor  of  Iowa; 
W.  A.  Buckingham,  who  with  Charles  Sumner 
drafted  the  memorial  to  Lincoln,  asking  for  the 
appointment  of  Merwin,  was  governor  of  Connecti 
cut.  Austin  Blair  was  governor  of  Michigan; 
Zachariah  Chandler  was  senator  from  Michigan; 
James  Dixon  was  senator  from  Connecticut; 
Richard  Yates  was  governor  of  Illinois;  J.  L. 
Scripps  was  postmaster  of  Chicago,  and  founder 
of  the  Press-Tribune;  Thomas  H.  Drummond  was 
judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court;  Alex 
W.  Randall  was  governor  of  Wisconsin;  A.  B. 
Palmer  was  surgeon  of  the  2nd  Michigan  Volun 
teers  and  professor  of  medicine  in  the  University 
of  Michigan.  All  of  these  men  were  outstanding 
political  and  social  figures  at  the  time,  and  strong 
supporters  of  President  Lincoln.  Their  signatures 
on  Merwin's  petition  prove  that  there  was  a  care 
fully  thought-out  plan  to  have  temperance  work 
done  among  the  soldiers. 

The  autograph  indorsement  of  Merwin  by  Gen 
eral  John  A.  Dix,  and  the  official  pass  for  Merwin 
and  driver  to  pass  the  lines,  are  self-explanatory. 


CHAPTER  XX 

LINCOLN  AND  GENERAL  GRANT'S 
LIQUOR  DRINKING 

THE  liquor  interests  capitalized  to  the  fullest 
a  humorous  utterance  attributed  to  Lincoln  with 
reference  to  General  Grant's  well-known  use  of 
ardent  spirits.  When  just  before  the  fall  of  Vicks- 
burg,  a  certain  committee  urged  Lincoln  to  re 
move  Grant  because  he  drank  too  much  whisky, 
Lincoln  is  said  to  have  replied :  "If  I  knew  where 
Grant  gets  his  whisky,  I  would  send  a  barrel  of  it 
to  every  general  in  the  field.7'  If  Lincoln  ever  said 
it  at  all,  he  said  it  to  stop  the  mouths  of  over- 
zealous  men  who  utterly  failed  to  appreciate  that 
the  great  task  of  the  hour  was  the  preservation  of 
the  Union  through  the  defeat  of  the  Confederates 
at  Vicksburg  and  elsewhere.  Lincoln  trusted 
Grant,  and  his  confidence  was  beautifully  justi 
fied.  It  would  seem  from  the  record  that  General 
Grant,  following  his  reproof  at  the  hands  of  Gen 
eral  Rawlins,  his  chief-of-staff,  never  allowed  his 
personal  habits  to  interfere  with  an  efficient  dis 
charge  of  his  duties.  The  "patness"  of  the  re 
joinder  to  Grant's  critics  under  the  circumstances 
made  it  one  of  the  most  famous  of  all  the  quips 
attributed  to  Lincoln,  but  no  reasonable  mind  can 
hold  it  to  be  other  than  a  jest 

93 


94  LINCOLN  AND  PKOHIBITION 

President  Lincoln's  solicitude  about  the  danger 
arising  from  indulgence  in  alcoholic  beverages  in 
the  army  was  a  matter  of  common  knowledge 
among  those  familiar  with  the  inside  workings  of 
the  government  during  the  war.  The  imminent 
danger  of  disaster  from  a  mistake  in  judgment 
due  to  temporary  disability  seemed  to  haunt 
President  Lincoln.  That  his  fears  were  well 
grounded  is  shown  in  the  most  vivid  colors  by  a 
letter  which  General  John  A.  Rawlins  wrote  to 
General  Grant  and  which  may  be  read  in  General 
J.  H.  Wilson's  life  of  Rawlius. 

Subsequent  history  demonstrated  that  Presi 
dent  Lincoln's  trust  in  General  Grant  was  not 
misplaced.  General  Grant  in  his  Memoirs  speaks 
in  the  highest  terms  of  General  Eawlins.  "He 
was,"  writes  General  Grant,  "an  able  man,  pos 
sessed  of  great  firmness,  and  could  say  'no'  so 
emphatically  to  a  request  which  he  thought 
should  not  be  granted  that  the  person  he  was  ad 
dressing  would  understand  at  once  that  there 
was  no  use  of  pressing  the  matter.  General  Raw 
lins  was  a  very  useful  officer  in  other  ways  than 
this.  I  became  very  much  attached  to  him.  Raw 
lins  remained  with  me  as  long  as  he  lived,  and 
rose  from  the  rank  of  brigadier-general  to  chief 
of  staff  to  the  general  of  the  Army — an  office 
created  for  him  before  the  war  closed." 


CHAPTER  XXI 
"ALCOHOL   THE   ARMY    CURSE" 

PRESIDENT  LINCOLN  and  Secretary  of  War  Stan- 
ton,  in  addition  to  the  natural  burden  of  directing 
a  great  war,  were  compelled  to  combat  the  liquor 
dealers,  the  gamblers,  and  the  keepers  of  dis 
orderly  houses.  They  were  a  menace  and  a  hin 
drance  during  the  entire  war,  adding  immeasur 
ably  to  the  ineffectiveness  of  officers  and  men. 
Excessive  indulgence  in  alcoholic  beverages  was 
manifest  on  every  side  in  the  city  of  Washington. 
Drinking  resorts,  disguised  and  undisguised,  were 
everywhere.  Old  street  corners  and  vacant  lots 
were  occupied  by  bars,  around  which  lay  the  in 
toxicated  soldiers  and  artisans.  In  the  suburbs, 
under  the  shadow  of  hospitals  and  alongside 
camps,  saloons  and  booths  operated  until  it  was 
estimated  by  General  L.  C.  Baker,  provost  mar 
shal  of  the  War  Department,  and  later  chief  of 
the  United  States  Secret  Service,  that  three  thou 
sand,  seven  hundred  liquor  dispensing  places  were 
in  operation  in  and  around  Washington  in  mid 
summer,  1863.  At  that  time  Washington  had  a 
population  of  about  seventy-five  thousand.  On 
the  eve  of  an  important  battle,  when  it  was  neces 
sary  to  dispatch  to  the  front  on  an  hour's  notice  a 
train  of  one  hundred  wagons,  not  five  government 

95 


96          LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

teamsters  were  sufficiently  sober  to  do  their  work. 
General  Baker  reported  that  nineteen  out  of  every 
twenty  crimes  committed  by  soldiers  and  govern 
ment  employees  were  directly  traceable  to  the  rum 
holes,  saloons  and  restaurants,  cake  shops  and 
hotel  bars.  General  Baker  reported  in  September, 
1863,  to  Secretary  Stanton  that  in  one  instance 
where,  under  his  orders,  saloons  adjacent  to  the 
Quartermaster's  Department  had  demoralized  the 
entire  neighborhood,  and  where  he  had  seized  the 
liquor  stocks  and  broken  up  the  business,  more 
than  one  hundred  government  employees,  deprived 
of  drink,  banded  together  and  started  a  riot, 
which  was  suppressed  only  by  the  arrest  of  the 
rioters  by  armed  soldiers. 

General  Baker  has  this  to  say  in  a  chapter  en 
titled  "Alcohol  the  Army  Curse" : 

"Could  the  people  have  seen  what  I  have  known, 
that  important  battles  have  been  lost  to  the  Union 
cause,  and  ranks  of  heroic  men  slain,  through  the 
maddening  or  stupefying  effect  of  liquors,  they 
would  cease  to  wonder  that  defeat  not  unfre- 
quently  saddened  their  hearts,  when  victory  was 
confidently  and  justly  anticipated.  On  fields  cov 
ered  with  our  slain,  might  have  been  thrown  out 
the  black  flag  of  intemperance,  the  single  sign  of 
the  useless  slaughter.  To  mention  the  names  of 
some  who  were  conquered  by  the  rebels  because 
first  overcome  by  the  demon  who  enslaves  soul  and 
body,  would  thrill  and  grieve  every  loyal  heart. 

"Nothing  in  the  conduct  of  the  war  pained  more 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION  97 

deeply,  even  to  tears,  our  departed  President 
[Lincoln]  than  this  very  practice.  He  once  re 
marked,  in  my  hearing,  to  the  secretary  of  war,  of 

a  great  commander:     'Of  General  I  have 

but  a  single  fear.  I  look  upon  him  as  the  best 
fighting  officer  we  have  in  the  army  to-day.  If 
he  can  restrain  his  appetite  for  intoxicating 
drinks,  he  is  bound  to  succeed.'  We  could  fill 
pages  upon  this  melancholy  topic. 

"To  no  member  of  the  Cabinet  was  this  condi 
tion  of  things  better  known  and  understood  than 
to  the  secretary  of  war;  and  no  single  subject  in 
his  department  received  more  careful  thought,  to 
reach  the  evil  and  the  adoption  of  some  plan  to 
prevent  the  shipment  of  the  fire-water  to  the  army. 
In  his  official  orders  the  severest  penalties  were 
imposed  on  their  violation." 

The  defeat  of  the  Union  army  at  Chancellors- 
ville  was  an  appalling  blow  to  President  Lincoln, 
his  Cabinet,  and  the  North.  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  Gideon  Welles,  in  his  exhaustive  Diary, 
made  this  record  at  the  time: 

"The  sudden  paralysis  that  followed  when  the 
army,  in  the  midst  of  a  successful  career,  was  sud 
denly  checked  and  commenced  its  retreat,  has 
never  been  explained.  Whisky  is  said  by  Sumner 
to  have  done  the  work.  The  President  said  that 
if  Hooker  had  been  killed  by  the  shock  which 
knocked  over  the  pillar  that  stunned  him,  we 
would  have  been  successful.  The  news  of  the  re 
verse  was  a  shock  to  the  President." 


98  LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Noah  Brooks,  who  was  waiting  in  the  White 
House  at  the  time  to  see  the  President,  says : 

"The  President  seemed  stunned.  Taking  the 
dispatch  in  his  hand,  he  passed  into  another  room 
in  the  White  House,  where  were  two  of  his  inti 
mate  friends  who  had  been  with  him  during  the 
recent  inspection  of  the  army,  and  handing  it  to 
one  of  them  he  said  by  a  motion  of  his  lips,  'Read 
it.'  It  was  read  aloud,  and  Lincoln,  his  face  ashy 
gray  in  hue  and  his  eyes  streaming  with  tears, 
finally  ejaculated :  'My  God !  My  God !  what  will 
the  country  say?  What  will  the  country  say?' 
He  refused  to  be  comforted,  for  his  grief  was 
great." 

Writing  in  1867,  after  a  period  of  reflection, 
General  Baker  makes  this  comment: 

"The  alarming  increase  of  intemperance,  the 
stupendous  frauds  and  bank  robberies  of  late, 
never  so  bold  and  startling  in  this  country  as  since 
the  Rebellion,  are  a  legitimate  outgrowth  in  time 
of  peace  of  those  loose  principles  and  practices 
which,  during  the  conflict,  were  common  in  the 
highest  places  of  power  and  responsibility;  and 
were  to  a  great  extent,  as  already  intimated,  the 
natural  effects  of  the  demoralizing  influences  of 
the  war." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

TEMPERANCE   AND   DISCIPLINE   IN   THE 
RANKS 

THE  New  York  Evening  Post,  of  May  22,  1862, 
took  note  of  the  activity  of  James  B.  Merwin  as  a 
temperance  worker  in  the  army.  The  regular 
correspondent  of  that  paper,  under  date  of  May 
21,  writes: 

"Some  facts  published  by  the  House  from  the 
Military  Committee  show  that  many  of  our  high 
est  officers  are  very  favorable  to  temperance  in  the 
army.  Mr.  J.  B.  Merwin  went  into  the  army  to 
lecture  to  the  soldiers.  General  Scott  gave  him 
the  following  written  introduction  and  indorse 
ment,  'I  esteem  the  mission  of  Mr.  Merwin  to  the 
army  a  happy  circumstance,  and  request  all  com 
manders  to  give  him  free  access  to  all  of  our 
camps  and  posts,  and  also  to  multiply  occasions 
to  enable  him  to  address  our  officers  and  men.7 

"This  is  important  evidence  from  the  greatest 
soldier  of  the  country,  upon  a  mooted  subject— 
whether  lectures,  speeches,  or  concerts  have  any 
proper  place  in  the  army.  Nearly  all  the  regular 
army  officers  contended  last  winter,  when  the 
Hutchinsons  (singers)  were  here,  that  it  was 
grossly  improper  for  any  lecturer  or  singer  to 

99 


100         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

have  contact  with  the  troops.  The  regular  chap 
lain  might  preach  and  pray  on  Sunday,  but  then 
he  should  confine  himself  strictly  to  religious  sub 
jects.  General  Scott  thought  differently.  He  re 
peatedly  said  last  summer  and  autumn  that  'the 
American  soldier  in  a  volunteer  war  like  this 
could  not  be  treated  like  the  soldier  of  European 
armies,  for  he  is  an  intelligent  being/  General 
Butler  said :  'The  mission  of  Mr.  Merwin  will  be 
of  great  benefit  to  the  troops/  General  Dix  ap 
proved  this,  adding,  'The  use  of  intoxicating 
drinks  as  a  beverage  is  the  curse  of  the  service.7 " 
The  orders  controlling  the  American  army  in 
the  great  World  War  with  reference  to  total  ab 
stinence  and  entertainment  prove  that  Lincoln 
and  Scott  in  their  day  were  advanced  thinkers. 
But  it  was  Lincoln  who  took  the  initiative ! 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

LINCOLN  ACCEPTED  INTERNAL  REVENUE 
ACT  AS  WAR  MEASURE 

THERE  is  an  inherent  probability  that  President 
Lincoln  signed  the  Internal  Revenue  Act  of  1862, 
under  which  the  liquor  interests  stayed  intrenched 
until  1918,  with  the  greatest  reluctance.  The 
Congressional  Record  for  the  month  of  May,  1862, 
gives  the  debates  in  the  Senate  over  the  adoption 
of  the  act.  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Chase  and 
Senator  Fessenden,  of  Maine,  urged  the  passage 
of  the  act  solely  on  the  grounds  of  war  exigency 
— the  government  needing  the  money  to  prosecute 
the  war.  Senator  Henry  Wilson,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  himself  the  son  of  a  drunkard  of  Natick, 
Massachusetts,  battled  strenuously  against  the 
passage  of  the  act.  He  was  aided  by  Wilmot,  of 
Pennsylvania;  Pomeroy,  of  Kansas;  Harris,  of 
New  York;  and  Wright,  of  New  Jersey.  After 
worriment  and  agitation,  induced  by  pressure 
from  members  of  his  Cabinet  who  saw  no 
other  way  of  helping  out  the  treasury,  Lincoln 
accepted  the  measure,  with  the  remark  to  Secre 
tary  Chase,  Senator  Wilson,  and  Merwin,  "As 
soon  as  the  exigencies  shall  pass  away  I  shall  turn 
my  attention  to  the  repeal  of  that  document." 
101 


102         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Merwin  at  this  time  was  in  a  position  to  testify 
convincingly  of  the  President's  mental  attitude 
toward  this  piece  of  legislation.  The  President 
and  Generals  Scott  and  Butler  had  equipped  him 
with  the  necessary  orders  for  carrying  on  his 
temperance  work  among  the  soldiers,  and  a  few 
days  afterward  the  President,  as  before  stated, 
wrote  a  special  pass  for  him,  enabling  him  to  carry 
on  his  mission,  under  formidable  natural  handi 
caps. 


CHAPLAIN  JAMES  B.  MERWIN 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

LINCOLN'S  LAST   UTTERANCE  ON 
TEMPERANCE 

PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  last  utterance  on  temper 
ance  seems  to  have  been  to  Chaplain  Merwin  on 
the  early  afternoon  of  the  day  he  was  assassinated. 
Merwin,  who,  as  shown  by  documentary  proof, 
had  worked  during  the  war  under  the  direction 
of  the  President  combating  intemperance  among 
the  soldiers,  was  carrying  an  important  message 
for  him  to  Colonel  Alexander  K.  McClure,  of  the 
Philadelphia  Times,  and  Horace  Greeley,  of  the 
New  York  Tribune,  with  reference  to  General 
Butler's  proposal  to  employ  colored  soldiers  in 
constructing  a  Panama  Canal.  As  Merwin  was 
leaving,  the  President  said: 

"Merwin,  with  the  help  of  the  people,  we  have 
cleaned  up  a  colossal  job.  Slavery  is  abolished. 
After  reconstruction,  the  next  great  question  will 
be  the  overthrow  and  abolition  of  the  liquor  traf 
fic  ;  and  you  know,  Merwin,  that  my  head  and  my 
heart  and  my  hand  and  my  purse  will  go  into  that 
work.  Less  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  I 
predicted  that  the  time  would  come  when  there 
would  be  neither  a  slave  nor  a  drunkard  in  the 
land.  I  have  lived  to  see,  thank  God,  one  of  those 
prophecies  fulfilled.  I  hope  to  see  the  other  real 
ized." 

103 


CHAPTER  XXV 
LINCOLN'S  ASSASSINS  A  DKINKINd   SET 

THE  official  record  of  the  assassination  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  and  the  trial  of  the  conspirators  in 
dicates  beyond  reasonable  doubt  that  the  con 
spirators,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three, 
were  addicted  to  the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages. 
Dr.  Samuel  A.  Mudd  seems  to  have  been  a  little 
less  disreputable  than  the  others,  but  taken  to 
gether  they  were  entirely  harmonious  in  their  in 
famy.  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Surratt  was  the  proprietor 
of  a  country  tavern  frequented  by  Confederate 
spies  near  Washington.  Liquor  was  abundant  at 
every  step  of  the  plot  for  the  killing  of  the  Presi 
dent.  Mrs.  Surratt  also  had  a  house  in  Washing 
ton,  and  the  frequenters  of  the  country  tavern 
made  her  Washington  house  their  rendezvous 
when  they  were  in  the  capital,  which  was  fre 
quently.  John  Wilkes  Booth,  the  arch  assassim, 
stimulated  himself  with  liquor  shortly  before  he 
fired  the  fatal  shot.  Herold,  Payne,  Atzerodt, 
Spangler,  Arnold,  O'Laughlin,  and  Mrs.  Surratt 
were  of  the  same  moral  stripe.  The  "hangout"  in 
Surrattsville,  in  the  country,  was  no  cleaner  than 
the  one  in  Washington,  and  both  were  foul.  The 
plotters  against  the  life  of  Lincoln  sustained  their 

104 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION         105 

respective  parts  in  a  general  plan  which  included 
in  its  varied  phases  the  assassination  of  Secretary 
of  State  Seward ;  the  abduction  of  President  Lin 
coln  and  his  Cabinet ;  the  murder  of  the  President 
by  presents  of  infected  clothing ;  the  introduction 
of  pestilence  into  Northern  cities  by  clothing  in 
fected  with  yellow  fever  and  smallpox;  attempted 
burning  of  New  York  and  other  Northern  cities; 
poisoning  the  water  of  Croton  reservoir,  New 
York;  raid  on  Saint  Albans,  Vermont;  contem 
plated  raids  on  Buffalo,  Ogdensburg,  etc.,  and  the 
burning  of  steamboats,  on  Western  rivers,  govern 
ment  warehouses,  hospitals,  etc.  Booth,  soaked 
with  rum,  went  through  with  his  part.  The  vigi 
lance  of  the  government  prevented  a  general  con 
summation. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

LINCOLN'S    SECRETIVENESS    AND 
CAUTION 

THE  answer  to  the  natural  query,  Why  did  not 
Nicolay  and  Hay  in  their  exhaustive  life  of  Lin 
coln  give  due  prominence  to  his  temperance  ac 
tivities  in  1855,  when  he  drafted  the  Illinois  dry 
law?  is  that  neither  Nicolay  nor  Hay  considered 
them  of  great  importance.  They  wrote  him  down 
as  a  total  abstainer  and  a  friend  of  temperance, 
and  they  let  it  go  at  that.  That  fact  was  generally 
known.  James  B.  Merwin  offered  them  data  con 
cerning  Lincoln's  efforts  in  1855  in  behalf  of  the 
Illinois  dry  law,  but  they  did  not  seem  to  want  it. 
Lincoln  never  really  confided  in  Nicolay.  The 
latter  knew  all  about  Lincoln  as  President,  but 
little  about  Lincoln  as  a  man. 

Lincoln's  partner,  Herndon,  in  analyzing  the 
character  of  his  long-time  law  partner,  says :  "Mr. 
Lincoln  never  had  a  confidant,  and  therefore 
never  unbosomed  himself  to  others.  He  never 
spoke  of  his  trials  to  me,  or  so  far  as  I  know,  to 
any  of  his  friends." 

Judge  David  Davis,  who  presided  on  the  cir 
cuit  in  Illinois  which  Lincoln  and  others  "rode," 
says :  "I  knew  the  man  so  well ;  he  was  the  most 
106 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION         107 

reticent,  secretive  man  I  ever  saw  or  expect  to 
see." 

Leonard  Swett  is  well  known  to  have  been  the 
one  whose  counsels  were  the  most  welcome  to 
Lincoln,  and  who  doubtless  did  counsel  him  with 
more  freedom  than  any  other  man.  Swett  says: 
"From  the  commencement  of  his  life  to  its  close 
I  have  sometimes  doubted  whether  he  ever  asked 
anybody's  advice  about  anything.  He  would 
listen  to  everybody ;  he  wrould  hear  everybody ;  but 
he  rarely,  if  ever,  asked  for  opinions.  Beneath  a 
smooth  surface  of  candor  and  apparent  declara 
tion  of  all  his  thoughts  and  feelings  he  exercised 
the  most  exalted  tact  and  wisest  discrimination. 
He  handled  and  moved  men  remotely  as  we  do 
pieces  upon  a  chessboard.  He  always  told  only 
enough  of  his  plans  and  purposes  to  induce  the 
belief  that  he  had  communicated  all;  yet  he  re 
served  enough  to  have  communicated  nothing." 

No  biographer  has  made  a  "clean  sweep"  of  the 
information  concerning  this  many-sided  man. 
Two  or  three  years  ago  Gilbert  A.  Tracy  published 
a  good-sized  volume  of  the  uncollected  letters  of 
Lincoln.  Many  of  them  are  of  great  historical 
importance.  Nicolay  and  Hay  and  the  earlier 
biographers  had  no  knowledge  of  these  letters. 
There  are  still  many  Lincoln  letters  which  never 
have  been  printed.  James  B.  Merwin  was  the 
man  in  surest  position  to  know  whether  Lincoln 
drafted  the  Illinois  1855  dry  law.  He  asserted 
time  and  again  on  the  lecture  platform  that  Lin- 


108         LINCOLN  AND  PKOHIBITION 

coin  did  draft  it.  Lincoln  trusted  and  confided  in 
Merwin  "only  to  the  extent  necessary  to  make  that 
trust  available."  The  Illinois  dry  law  was  the 
business  in  hand.  As  already  set  forth,  the  Legis 
lature,  controlled  by  Lincoln  and  his  friends, 
passed  the  law.  Lincoln's  political  acumen  told 
him  that  the  law  would  fail  in  the  referendum.  He 
was  not  ready  at  that  time  to  father  the  movement, 
although  he  was  the  paid  counsel  for  it.  Neither 
was  he  at  that  time  ready  to  take  a  stand  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  as  advocated  by  the  radicals. 
"He  never  stepped  too  soon,  and  he  never  stepped 
too  late."  At  all  times  he  was  against  liquor  as 
a  beverage,  but  he  was  open-minded  with  reference 
to  the  best  method  to  destroy  the  traffic. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
CROOKED  ELECTIONS  FOR  FIFTY  YEARS 

THERE  is  a  natural  hesitancy  oa  the  part  of 
truth-loving  people  to  cry  "Fraud"  in  the  absence 
of  proof  of  fraud.  Lincoln's  reference  to  crooked 
elections  in  his  letter  to  N.  B.  Judd  (Chapter  XV) 
deserves  greater  emphasis.  The  ballot-box  stuff er, 
repeater,  and  false  registrant  have  indulged  their 
remunerative  propensity  with  surprising  assidu 
ity — and  are  still  at  it.  Comment  on  the  evil 
might  be  uncalled  for  in  writing  about  Lincoln 
and  prohibition,  but  for  the  fact  that  the  liquor 
interests  for  two  generations  have  had  what  per 
haps  may  be  called  a  proprietary  interest  in  this 
treasonable,  deliberate,  and  studied  fraud.  There 
has  not  been  a  fraud-free  election  in  the  city  and 
State  of  New  York  since  the  Civil  War,  despite 
painstaking  efforts  to  safeguard  the  ballot.  Again 
and  again  the  forces  standing  for  law  and  order 
have  been  deprived  of  legitimate  victory  through 
crooked  elections.  Frequently  they  have  tri 
umphed  despite  the  handicap.  In  the  city  of 
New  York,  to  the  personal  knowledge  of  the 
writer,  the  liquor  and  allied  interests  for  at  least 
twenty-five  years,  have  fostered — subsidized — the 
human  agencies  which  have  perpetuated  and  in- 
109 


110         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

trenched  this  fraud.  Governors  and  Supreme 
Court  judges  have  been  the  beneficiaries  of  the 
system,  serving  out  their  terms,  many  of  them 
throwing  their  influence  against  organized  effort 
to  abate  the  evil.  In  all  this  nefarious  history, 
the  nursery,  the  hot-bed,  the  sprouting  establish 
ment,  has  been  the  liquor  and  allied  businesses. 
The  saloon  has  been  the  rendezvous  of  the  election 
crook.  In  the  saloon  for  two  generations  he  has 
been  schooled,  equipped,  commissioned  and  paid 
for  his  felonies.  The  "doggeries"  seen  in  Naples, 
Illinois,  in  1858  by  the  keen-eyed  Lincoln  were 
no  different  in  their  atmosphere  and  output  than 
the  "doggeries"  in  New  York  city.  They  were 
actively  hostile  toward  honest  government  in  1858 
in  Illinois,  and  they  did  not  change  their  spots  or 
stripes,  West  or  East,  for  two  generations. 

When  Lincoln  battled  on  the  Illinois  prairies 
against  slavery  and  rum,  he  battled  against  a 
similar  thing  in  the  New  York  Bowery.  With  the 
advent  of  prohibition  and  universal  suffrage  there 
is  the  beginning  of  the  fulfillment  of  Lincoln's 
1842  prophecy  of  a  day  when  there  should  be 
neither  a  slave  nor  a  drunkard  in  the  land. 


CHAPTEK  XXVIII 
IN  CONCLUSION 

ON  the  mantel  fronting  his  desk  in  the  White 
House  President  Roosevelt  kept  a  large  portrait 
of  Lincoln.  When  Mrs.  White  and  the  writer 
called  on  President  Roosevelt  on  the  Thursday 
following  his  election  in  1904,  during  the  conver 
sation  Mr.  Roosevelt,  turning  to  the  picture, 
said : 

"When  I  am  confronted  with  a  great  problem, 
I  look  up  to  that  picture,  and  I  do  as  I  believe 
Lincoln  would  have  done.  I  have  always  felt  that 
if  I  could  do  as  he  would  have  done  were  he  in 
my  place,  I  would  not  be  far  from  right." 

Matching  this  tribute  is  one  from  another 
former  governor  of  New  York — one  who,  like  Lin 
coln,  rose  from  deep  poverty — Governor  Frank  S. 
Black: 

"The  stamp  of  nobility  and  power  which  he 
wore  was  conferred  upon  him  in  that  log  hut  in 
Kentucky,  that  day  in  1809,  when  he  and  Nancy 
Hanks  were  first  seen  there  together,  and  it 
was  conferred  by  a  Power  which,  unlike  earthly 
potentates,  never  confers  a  title  without  a  char 
acter  that  will  adorn  it.  Groves  are  better  than 
temples,  fields  are  better  than  gorgeous  car- 
111 


112         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

petings,  rail  fences  are  better  than  lines  of 
kneeling  slaves,  and  the  winds  are  better  than 
music  if  you  are  raising  heroes  and  founding 
governments." 


APPENDIX  A 

CHRONOLOGY   OF   THE   ANTI-LIQUOR   MOVEMENT 
IN  AMERICA1 

1642 

THE  colony  of  Maryland  passes  a  law  punishing 
drunkenness  by  a  fine  of  100  pounds  of  tobacco. 

1645 

Connecticut  prohibits  the  selling  of  intoxicating 
liquors  to  Indians  under  penalty  of  40  shillings  5  pence. 

1647 

Drunkenness  is  prohibited  in  Rhode  Island  under 
penalty  of  5  shillings,  and  selling  to  Indians  under 
penalty  of  5  pounds. 

1650 

Connecticut  passes  a  law  forbidding  tippling  above 
the  space  of  half  an  hour  at  one  time,  or  at  unreasonable 
times. 

1654 

The  colony  of  Massachusetts  prohibits  licensed  persons 
from  allowing  excessive  drinking,  under  fine  of  20 
shillings. 

1655 

The  colony  of  New  Haven  passes  a  liquor  regulation 
law. 

1657 

Selling  liquor  to  Indians  in  Massachusetts  is  pro 
hibited  under  penalty  of  40  shillings. 

» Condensed  from  the  1919  Anti-Saloon  League  Year  Book.  Permission 
of  Erneat  H.  Cherrington. 

113 


114        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

1658 

Maryland  punishes  drunkenness  by  confinement  in 
the  stocks  for  six  hours.  A  law  passed  in  Virginia  pro 
vides  that  one  convicted  of  drunkenness  three  times  is 
accounted  a  common  drunkard. 

1659 

Drunkenness  at  a  private  house  in  Connecticut  is 
forbidden  under  a  fine  of  20  shillings. 

1664 

The  Virginia  Assembly  passes  a  law  prohibiting  minis 
ters  from  giving  themselves  to  excess  in  drinking  or 
riot  or  in  playing  at  unlawful  games. 

1668 

New  Jersey  passes  a  law  prohibiting  persons  drinking 
after  nine  o'clock. 

1676 

The  Virginia  Assembly  prohibits  the  sale  of  wines 
and  ardent  spirits  outside  of  Jamestown. 

1677 
New  Jersey  forbids  the  sale  of  liquor  to  Indians. 

1685 

The  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  in  Pennsylvania  and 
New  Jersey  declares  against  intemperance. 

1700 

Inn  keepers  in  New  Hampshire  are  prohibited  from 
permitting  townspeople  to  remain  in  their  homes  drink 
ing  on  Saturday  night  or  Sunday. 

1701 

New  Hampshire  imposes  a  fine  of  5  shillings  on 
drunkards. 

1715 
Maryland   colony   prohibits   the   selling   of   over   one 


APPENDIX  A  115 

gallon  of  liquor  a  day  to  any  Indian,  under  penalty  of 
3,000  pounds  of  tobacco. 

1719 

New  Hampshire  prohibits  the  sale  of  liquor  to  drunk 
ards. 

1735 

The  English  Parliament  forbids  the  importation  of 
liquors  into  Georgia. 

1760 

Virginia  and  Carolina  pass  laws  compelling  ministers 
to  abstain  from  excess  of  drinking  and  riot. 

The  Friends  of  Pennsylvania  make  an  effort  to  abolish 
the  use  of  liquors  at  funerals. 

1779 
Vermont  passes  a  law  against  drunkenness. 

1785 

Doctor  Benjamin  Rush  issues  his  celebrated  essay 
dealing  with  the  effects  of  ardent  spirits  on  the  human 
body  and  mind. 

1789 

The  first  temperance  society  in  America  is  organized 
by  200  farmers  in  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut. 

1790 

Congress  enacts  a  law  giving  every  soldier  a  gill  of 
rum,  brandy,  or  whisky  daily. 

A  bill  is  introduced  into  Congress  taxing  distilled 
liquors. 

1794 

The  whisky  rebellion  takes  place  in  western  Penn 
sylvania. 

Congress  orders  that  a  half  pint  of  spirits  or  a  quart 
of  beer  shall  constitute  a  part  of  the  rations  of  the  navy. 

1801 

Congress  withdraws  the  option  of  a  quart  of  beer  in 
the  navy  ration  instead  of  a  half  pint  of  spirits. 


116        LINCOLN  AND  PEOHIBITION 

1802 

Congress  passes  a  law  providing  that  the  President 
shall  take  steps  to  prevent  the  traffic  in  liquor  with  the 
Indians. 

1805 

The  Sober  Society  is  founded  at  Allentown,  New 
Jersey. 

1808 

The  Union  Temperance  Society  of  Moreau  and  North 
umberland  is  founded  by  Dr.  B.  J.  Clark  in  Saratoga 
County,  New  York. 

1814 

The  following  article  was  inserted  in  the  Book  of 
Discipline  of  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in 
Christ:  "Article  II.  Every  member  shall  abstain  from, 
strong  drink,  and  use  it  only  on  necessity  as  medicine." 

1821 

The  following  action  was  taken  by  the  General  Con 
ference  of  the  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ: 
"Resolved,  That  neither  preacher  nor  lay  member  shall 
be  permitted  to  carry  on  a  distillery;  that  distillers  be 
requested  to  cease  the  business;  that  the  members  of 
the  General  Conference  be  requested  to  lay  this  resolu 
tion  before  the  several  Annual  Conferences;  that  it  shall 
then  be  the  duty  of  the  preachers  to  labor  against  the 
evils  of  intemperance  during  the  intervals  between  this 
and  the  next  General  Conference,  when  the  subject  shall 
again  be  taken  up  for  further  consideration." 

1826 

Doctor  Lyman  Beecher  preaches  his  six  famous  tem 
perance  sermons  at  Litchfield,  Connecticut. 

The  American  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Temper 
ance  is  organized  in  Boston. 

1828 
The  New  York  State  Temperance  Society  is  organized. 


APPENDIX  A  117 

1833 

The  Congressional  Temperance  Society  is  organized  at 
Washington,  D.  C. 

The  first  national  temperance  convention  meets  at 
Philadelphia. 

1834 

Congress  enacts  a  law  prohibiting  the  selling  of 
liquor  to  Indians  in  Indian  countries,  under  penalty  of 
$500. 

The  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  meeting  at  Phila 
delphia  declares  against  the  traffic  in  ardent  liquors. 

1837 

The  Maine  Temperance  Union  is  organized  under  Neal 
Dow. 

1840 
The  Washingtonian  Movement  is  inaugurated. 

1841 

The  national  temperance  convention  meets  at  Sara 
toga. 

John  Hawkins,  of  the  Washingtonian  Society,  reports 
100,000  signers  of  the  pledge. 

1842 

Abraham  Lincoln  addresses  the  Washingtonian  Society 
at  Springfield,  urging  a  temperance  revolution. 

The  Independent  Order  of  Rechabites  is  organized. 

The  Sons  of  Temperance  organize  in  New  York. 

John  B.  Gough  signs  the  pledge  and  reforms. 

The  Congressional  Temperance  Society  is  reorganized 
on  the  basis  of  abstinence. 

1843 

A  prohibitory  law  is  passed  for  Oregon. 
The  National   Division  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance 
organizes. 


118        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

1846 

The  Democratic  Legislature  of  Maine  enacts  a  pro 
hibitory  law. 

The  order  of  Templars  of  Honor  and  Temperance  is 
organized. 

1847 

The  Independent  Order  of  Good  Samaritans  is  or 
ganized. 

1848 

The    Methodist    General    Conference    at    Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania,  forbids  members  buying,  selling,  or  drink 
ing  intoxicating  beverages. 
The  prohibitory  liquor  law  of  Oregon  is  repealed. 

1849 

Father  Mathew  arrives  from  Ireland,  and  begins  his 
pledge-signing  crusade.  President  Tyler  gives  a  banquet 
at  the  White  House  to  Father  Mathew  and  the  Senate 
votes  the  extraordinary  distinction  of  admitting  him  to 
the  bar  of  the  Senate. 

1850 

The  people  of  Michigan  adopt  a  constitutional  amend 
ment  against  license. 

1851 

The  Dow  bill  introduced  by  Neal  Dow  in  the  Maine 
Legislature  becomes  a  law.  The  law  provides  for  con 
fiscation  of  liquors  stored  for  sale. 

The  Independent  Order  of  Good  Templars  is  organ 
ized  in  central  New  York. 

Abraham  Lincoln  joins  the  Sons  of  Temperance  at 
Springfield,  Illinois. 

Horace  Greeley  declares  for  the  destruction  of  the 
liquor  traffic. 

1852 

The  Massachusetts  Legislature  enacts  the  "Maine 
Law"  in  its  most  stringent  form. 

Vermont  adopts  Prohibition. 


APPENDIX  A  119 

1853 

The  prohibitory  law  of  Rhode  Island  is  declared  un 
constitutional. 

John  B.  Gough  makes  a  temperance  lecture  tour  of 
England. 

1854 

Connecticut  passes  a  prohibitory  law  with  the  pro 
vision  for  town  agents  to  sell  liquors  for  sacramental, 
chemical,  and  medicinal  uses. 

Myron  H.  Clark,  a  Whig,  is  elected  governor  of  New 
York  on  a  prohibition  platform. 

1855 

The  militia  of  Illinois  is  called  out  in  the  city  of 
Chicago  to  suppress  a  riot  occasioned  by  the  agitation  of 
the  license  question. 

Pennsylvania  prohibits  the  sale  of  liquors  to  be  drunk 
on  the  premises. 

The  prohibitory  law  of  Maine  is  reenacted  by  the 
Legislature  and  its  penalties  increased. 

Another  prohibitory  law  is  passed  in  Rhode  Island. 

1856 

The  prohibitory  Maine  Law  is  repealed  by  the  enact 
ment  of  a  license  provision. 

1857 

The  Sons  of  Temperance  in  New  York  indorse  the 
scheme  for  a  constitutional  amendment  prohibiting  the 
liquor  traffic. 

1858 
The  Maine  prohibitory  Law  again  becomes  operative. 

1860 

President-elect  Abraham  Lincoln  declines  a  request 
to  furnish  liquors  to  the  national  committee  sent  to 
inform  him  of  his  nomination  to  the  Presidency  on 
June  19;  he  returns  unopened  the  hampers  of  wines  and 
liquors  given  to  him, 


120        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

1861 

The  New  York  Senate  by  a  vote  of  69  to  33  approves 
the  joint  resolution  providing  for  a  constitutional  pro 
hibitory  amendment. 

President  Lincoln  signs  an  act  of  Congress  forbidding 
the  selling  or  giving  of  intoxicating  drinks  to  soldiers. 

Generals  Butler,  McClellan,  and  Banks  issue  orders 
expelling  all  liquors  from  their  respective  commands. 

1862 

Congress  passes  a  law  declaring  that  the  spirit  ration 
in  the  navy  shall  cease  forever. 

1865 

The  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  declares  that 
liquor  makers  and  sellers  shall  be  excluded  from  mem 
bership  in  the  church. 

1866 
Kansas  passes  a  local  option  and  prohibitory  law. 

1867 

The  Congressional  Temperance  Society  is  revived  by 
Senator  Henry  Wilson  of  Massachusetts. 

The  National  Brewers'  Congress  at  Chicago  declares 
for  personal  liberty,  and  against  all  candidates,  of  what 
ever  party,  who  are  in  any  way  disposed  toward  the 
total  abstinence  cause. 

1869 

Massachusetts  enacts  a  State  prohibitory  law. 

The  National  Prohibition  Party  is  organized  in  Chi 
cago. 

1870 

Ohio  passes  the  Adair  law,  making  the  liquor  seller 
and  owners  of  premises  jointly  responsible  for  injury 
caused  by  liquor. 

The  Royal  Templars  of  Temperance  is  organized  at 
Buffalo,  New  York. 


APPENDIX  A  121 

1872 

The  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  Union  of  North  Amer 
ica  is  organized. 

1873 

The  Woman's  Temperance  Crusade  begins  in  Hills- 
boro,  Ohio. 

The  Legislature  of  Minnesota  enacts  a  special  tax 
on  saloon-keepers. 

The  New  York  Legislature  passes  the  landlord  and 
tenant  bill,  and  a  civil  damage  bill  for  the  regulation  of 
the  liquor  trade. 

1874 

The  Georgia  Legislature  prohibits  the  sale  of  liquors 
except  on  petition  of  two  thirds  of  the  property  owners. 

Christian  women  at  Chautauqua,  New  York,  decide 
to  call  a  national  convention  of  temperance  women, 
which  convention  meets  on  November  17  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is  or 
ganized  November  19. 

1875 

The  whisky  frauds  in  Western  States  are  exposed, 
showing  a  loss  to  the  government  by  corruption  of 
$1,650,000. 

The  constitution  of  the  State  of  Texas  Is  changed  so 
as  to  guarantee  local  opeion. 

1876 

Senator  Blair  introduces  a  resolution  in  the  United 
States  Senate  proposing  federal  prohibition. 

1879 

A  constitutional  prohibitory  amendment  bill  passes 
the  Kansas  Legislature. 

1880 

The  demand  for  scientific  temperance  instruction  in 
schools  is  created  by  the  W.  C.  T.  U. 


122         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

The  Iowa  Legislature  adopts  a  prohibitory  amend 
ment. 

The  people  of  Kansas  adopt  the  prohibitory  constitu 
tional  amendment  by  8,000  votes. 

1881 

President  Hayes  issues  an  order  prohibiting  the  sale 
of  liquors  at  military  posts  and  stations. 

The  first  high-license  law  in  the  country  is  enacted 
by  the  Nebraska  Legislature. 

Kansas  passes  a  prohibitory  law  to  enforce  the  Pro 
hibition  amendment. 

1882 

The  prohibitory  amendment  is  adopted  by  the  people 
of  Iowa  by  a  majority  of  nearly  30,000  votes. 

1883 

The  Missouri  Legislature  enacts  the  Downing  high- 
license  law. 

The  Illinois  Legislature  passes  the  Harper  high- 
license  law. 

A  petition  containing  the  names  of  50,000  voters  in 
Massachusetts  is  presented  to  the  Legislature  of  that 
State,  asking  for  the  submission  of  a  prohibitory  con 
stitutional  amendment. 

The  people  of  Ohio  adopt  a  prohibitory  constitutional 
amendment  by  a  majority  of  82,000;  the  proposition  is 
defeated  by  technicalities. 

The  Scott  law  taxing  the  liquor  traffic  is  passed  in 
Ohio. 

1884 

The  stringent  Iowa  prohibitory  liquor  law  becomes 
operative. 

The  National  Democratic  Convention  adopts  a  liquor 
plank  in  its  platform. 

The  third  plenary  council  of  the  Roman  Catholic  prel 
ates  at  Baltimore,  Maryland,  declares  against  the  liquor 
traffic. 


APPENDIX  A  123 

The  constitutional  prohibitory  amendment  is  ap 
proved  by  the  people  of  Maine  by  a  majority  of  46,972 
votes. 

The  Church  Temperance  Society  of  New  York  reports 
that  633  political  conventions  and  primaries  out  of  a 
total  of  1,002  are  held  in  saloons  and  that  the  boodle 
board  of  22  aldermen  contains  12  saloon-keepers  and  4 
saloon  politicians. 

1885 

The  proposed  constitution  for  South  Dakota  is  framed 
by  a  convention  at  Sioux  Palls,  with  an  article  prohibit 
ing  the  liquor  traffic. 

A  partisan  anti-saloon  movement  is  organized  in  Kan 
sas  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  the  Republican  party 
to  adopt  a  platform  of  hostility  to  the  saloons. 

1886 

The  Rhode  Island  Legislature  votes  to  submit  the 
prohibitory  amendment  to  a  popular  vote.  The  pro 
hibitory  amendment  to  the  constitution  is  approved  by 
the  people  of  Rhode  Island  by  the  required  three  fifths 
and  becomes  operative  on  July  1. 

The  Rev.  George  C.  Haddock,  of  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  is 
murdered  by  a  prominent  friend  of  the  brewers. 

Congress  enacts  that  instruction  concerning  the  ef 
fects  of  alcoholic  liquors  shall  be  given  in  the  schools  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  in  the  military  and  naval 
academies,  and  in  all  other  schools  under  government 
control. 

Congress  passes  a  local  option  law  for  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

The  Dow  tax  law  is  passed  by  the  Ohio  Legislature. 

1887 

The  General  Conference  of  the  Evangelical  Church 
declares  for  Prohibition. 

The  Legislature  of  Kansas  passes  a  law  to  suppress  the 
sale  of  liquor  as  a  beverage  at  drug  stores. 


124         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

The  Minnesota  Legislature  provides  for  high  license 
wherever  Prohibition  is  not  adopted. 

The  Pennsylvania  Legislature  enacts  the  Brooks  high- 
license  law. 

The  Texas  Legislature  votes  to  submit  a  constitutional 
prohibitory  amendment  to  the  people;  the  amendment 
is  afterward  defeated  by  a  majority  of  91,357. 

The  General  Conference  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  resolves  for  Prohibition. 

1888 

The  General  Conference  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Church,  with  300,000  members,  declares 
in  favor  of  temperance. 

The  Brooks  high-license  law  of  Pennsylvania  goes 
into  effect. 

The  National  Republican  Convention  resolves  for  tem 
perance  and  morality. 

The  General  Sj-nod  of  the  Moravian  Church  opposes 
all  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors. 

The  General  Conference  of  the  Seventh  Day  Adventists 
in  convention  at  Minneapolis)  Minnesota,  resolves  for 
Prohibition. 

The  Massachusetts  Legislature  enacts  a  high-license 
law. 

1889 

The  Rhode  Island  Legislature  enacts  a  high-license 
law. 

The  people  of  South  Dakota  approve  the  prohibitory 
article  of  the  constitution  by  a  majority  of  over  5,000. 

1890 

President  Corbin,  of  the  Reading  Railroad,  orders 
the  discharge  of  all  employees  who  frequent  drinking 
places. 

The  Prohibition  law  of  Iowa  is  sustained. 

The   Central  Labor   Union   of  New  York   denies   ad- 


APPENDIX  A  125 

mission  to  the  delegates  from  saloon-keepers'  associa 
tions. 

The  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  in  session  at 
Saratoga,  New  York,  recommends  Prohibition. 

The  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 
Church  declares  against  license. 

The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  issues  a  circular  stat 
ing  that  it  will  not  employ  men  addicted  to  intemper 
ance. 

The  Farmers'  Alliance  and  Knights  of  Labor  in  South 
Dakota  unite  to  form  an  independent  party  favoring 
Prohibition. 

The  American  Board  of  Missions  petitions  Congress 
to  prohibit  the  exportation  of  intoxicating  liquors  to 
those  countries  where  the  missions  of  the  board  are 
located. 

The  Maryland  Legislature  enacts  a  high-license  law 
for  Baltimore  City. 

1891 

The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad  dis 
charges  employees  who  sign  petitions  of  saloon-keepers 
for  license. 

The  Maine  Legislature  passes  some  very  rigid  temper 
ance  legislation. 

1892 

The  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  condemns  the  liquor  traffic  and  the  high-license 
system. 

Judge  Lacombe,  'of  New  York,  renders  an  opinion 
favoring  the  legality  of  the  whisky  trust. 

1893 

The  Ohio  Anti-Saloon  League  is  founded  by  Howard 
H.  Russell  at  Oberlin,  Ohio. 

The  State  Liquor  Dealers'  Association  of  Ohio  decides 
to  enter  politics  more  actively  than  before. 


126        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

1894 

Archbishop  Ireland,  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  Dr. 
Kynett,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  on  a  railway  train 
between  Chicago  and  Philadelphia,  discuss  the  tem 
perance  question  and  agree  upon  the  advisability  of  a 
plan  for  the  uniting  of  all  the  forces  opposed  to  the 
saloon,  similar  to  the  plan  later  decided  upon  in  the 
organization  of  the  Anti-Saloon  League  of  America. 

1895 

At  the  suggestion  of  Bishop  Luther  B.  Wilson,  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia  Anti-Saloon  League  issues  a  call  to 
initiate  a  general  Anti-Saloon  League  movement  through 
out  the  nation. 

The  American  Anti-Saloon  League  is  organized  at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  December  18,  by  the  coalition  of  the 
Anti-Saloon  League  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  the 
Anti-Saloon  League  of  Ohio  and  five  other  State,  na 
tional,  and  local  temperance  organizations. 

Dr.  Howard  H.  Russell  is  chosen  the  first  national 
superintendent  of  the  Anti-Saloon  League  of  America. 

The  American  Issue,  the  official  organ  of  the  Anti- 
Saloon  League,  makes  its  first  appearance,  taking  the 
place  of  the  Anti-Saloon,  the  paper  started  by  Dr.  Rus 
sell  in  1893. 

1896 

State  Anti-Saloon  Leagues  are  organized  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  South  Dakota,  Michigan,  West  Virginia,  and 
Iowa. 

1897 

The  Anti-Saloon  Leagues  of  Nebraska  and  Tennessee 
are  inaugurated. 

1898 

The  Anti-Saloon  League  movement  is  started  in  North 
ern  California,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Minnesota,  Vermont, 
Wisconsin,  Maryland,  and  Oklahoma. 


APPENDIX  A  127 

1899 

Through  action  of  the  Ohio  Anti-Saloon  League,  a 
large  number  of  pro-liquor  candidates  are  defeated. 

Anti-Saloon  League  State  organizations  are  started 
in  New  Hampshire,  New  York,  Colorado,  Arkansas,  and 
Rhode  Island. 

The  Anti-Saloon  League  of  America  opens  legislative 
offices  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

1900 

The  Anti-Saloon  League  is  organized  in  the  State  of 
Washington. 

1901 

Congress  passes  the  anti-canteen  law. 

The  brewers  and  liquor  dealers  organize  in  every 
Prohibition  State  of  the  Union  to  break  down  the  pro 
hibitory  laws. 

The  Anti-Saloon  Leagues  of  Oregon,  Virginia,  and 
New  Jersey  are  started. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  Indiana  hands  down  three  de 
cisions  favorable  to  the  temperance  forces. 

1902 

Maryland  passes  twenty-eight  different  local  temper 
ance  laws. 

Two  thirds  of  Los  Angeles  County,  one  half  of  San 
Diego  County  and  one  half  of  San  Bernardino  County,, 
California,  adopt  no-license. 

New  York  State  outlaws  60  concert  hall  saloons  in 
Buffalo,  and  adds  100  dry  townships  to  the  no-license 
column. 

1903 

Virginia  passes  the  Mann  law,  practically  banishing 
all  saloons  from  rural  districts. 

Eighteen  of  the  24  towns  and  cities  voting  in  Virginia 
go  dry  and  20  of  the  27  municipal  elections  in  North 
Carolina  result  in  dry  victories. 

Fifty-seven  additional  towns  and  cities  in  Ohio  adopt 


128        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

no-license  under  the  Beal  law,  and  450  convictions  of 
saloon  violators  are  secured  in  the  same  State. 

1904 

Anti-Saloon  Leagues  are  organized  in  Kentucky, 
Idaho,  Oklahoma,  and  Indian  Territory. 

Virginia  reduces  the  number  of  saloons  in  that  State 
by  two  hundred  and  thirty. 

The  anti-saloon  forces  secure  the  election  of  a  Pro 
hibitionist  as  a  member  of  the  Illinois  Legislature  from 
the  city  of  Peoria,  the  world's  whisky  center. 

Seven  counties  in  Missouri  vote  dry  and  200  saloons 
are  closed  in  the  State. 

1905 

Six  anti-liquor  laws  are  passed  by  the  Legislature  of 
New  York. 

One  hundred  and  sixty-three  convictions  against  sa 
loon-keepers  are  secured  in  Minnesota,  and  the  saloons 
are  closed  on  Sunday  in  Minneapolis. 

Governor  Herrick,  of  Ohio,  is  defeated  for  re-election 
by  a  majority  of  over  44,000  by  the  anti-saloon  forces, 
who  thus  resent  his  mutilation  of  the  residence  district 
option  bill. 

1906 

Kentucky  passes  the  county  unit  local  option  law, 
which  results  immediately  in  14  new  counties  passing 
into  the  no-license  column.  The  governor  orders  the 
closing  of  Sunday  saloons  in  Louisville. 

Six  of  the  eleven  New  Hampshire  cities  vote  dry. 

The  Oklahoma  Statehood  bill  as  passed  by  Congress, 
requires  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  Indian 
Territory,  and  on  Indian  reservations  for  twenty-one 
years,  and  thereafter  until  the  people  shall  change  the 
organic  law. 

1907 

Alabama  passes  a  county  option  law,  and  later  enacts 
State-wide  Prohibition.  Jefferson  County,  Alabama,  in- 


APPENDIX  A  129 

eluding  the  city  of  Birmingham,  votes  dry  hy  a  majority 
of  1,800. 

Arkansas  abolishes  all  saloons  outside  of  incorporated 
towns. 

The  Legislature  of  Georgia  passes  a  State-wide  Pro 
hibition  measure. 

"The  Delaware  Legislature  submits  the  liquor  question 
to  the  vote  of  the  people,  with  the  result  that  every 
place  outside  of  Newcastle  County  and  the  city  of  Wil 
mington  abolishes  the  saloons. 

Of  the  37  county  option  elections  held  in  Kentucky, 
35  go  dry. 

Ohio  destroys  350  speakeasies,  and  50  additional  towns 
and  cities  go  dry. 

Oklahoma  adopts  Prohibition  by  18,000  majority. 

1908 

Illinois  in  a  single  day  votes  1,053  townships  dry, 
abolishing  thereby  over  1,500  saloons. 

Ten  additional  counties  in  Michigan  abolish  the  sa 
loons. 

Mississippi  passes  a  State-wide  Prohibition  law. 

North  Carolina  adopts  State-wide  Prohibition  by  a 
majority  of  44,000. 

Twenty-one  of  the  33  counties  of  Oregon  vote  to 
abolish  the  saloons  under  the  county-option  law. 

Forty-two  municipalities  in  Colorado  adopt  no-license. 

Arkansas  registers  a  total  majority  against  licenses  in 
the  county  option  elections  of  22,934,  and  elects  an  anti- 
saloon  governor  by  80,000  majority. 

Governor  Stubbs  is  elected  in  Kansas  on  a  Prohibition 
and  law-enforcement  issue. 

Texas  adds  12  dry  counties  to  the  no-license  list,  and 
re-elects  Governor  Campbell  on  a  straight  anti-saloon 
issue. 

Rhode  Island  abolishes  429  saloons,  and  passes  a  law 
limiting  the  number  of  licenses  to  one  to  every  500 


130         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

of  the  population,  and  prohibiting  the  saloon  within  200 
feet  of  a  public  or  parochial  school. 

Tennessee  elects  a  Legislature  pledged  to  enact  State 
Prohibition. 

United  States  Senator  Carmack  is  shot  down  in  the 
streets  of  Nashville,  and  dies  a  martyr  to  the  Prohibition 
cause. 

Maine  and  North  Dakota  both  elect  governors  pledged 
to  the  strict  enforcement  of  Prohibition. 

Baltimore,  Maryland,  closes  393  saloons. 

Worcester,  Massachusetts,  with  a  population  of  150,000, 
goes  dry  a  second  time. 

Four  hundred  and  sixty-one  saloons  are  abolished  in 
Iowa. 

Seven  hundred  and  twenty  saloons  go  out  of  business 
in  Indiana  by  the  remonstrance  route. 

In  four  months  57  counties  in  Ohio  vote  dry,  abolish 
ing  thereby  1,910  saloons. 

More  than  11,000  saloons  are  abolished  in  the  United 
States  by  Prohibition  and  local  option  laws  during  the 
year. 

1909 

South  Carolina  adopts  Prohibition  with  a  referendum 
by  counties,  and  as  a  result  of  the  referendum  vote  36 
of  the  42  counties  prohibit  the  sale,  while  the  other  6 
retain  the  county  dispensaries. 

Idaho  enacts  a  straight  county-option  measure,  and 
in  the  first  round  of  elections  14  of  the  23  counties 
abolish  saloons. 

Wyoming  abolishes  all  saloons  outside  of  incorporated 
towns. 

Kansas  passes  a  stringent  measure  prohibiting  the 
sale  of  liquors  for  all  purposes  except  sacramental 
use. 

Nineteen  additional  counties  in  Michigan  abolish  the 
saloons. 

The   lower   house  of   the   West   Virginia   Legislature 


APPENDIX  A  131 

passes  a  Prohibition  bill.     Eight  additional  counties  in 
West  Virginia  vote  dry. 
Sixty  counties  in  Indiana  vote  dry. 

1910 

The  governor  of  Nebraska  summons  the  mayor,  fire, 
and  police  board,  and  the  chief  of  police,  to  show  cause 
why  they  should  not  be  ousted  from  office,  for  failure  to 
enforce  anti-liquor  laws;  and  upon  agreement  of  said 
officers  to  enforce  the  laws  in  the  future,  they  are  given 
opportunity  to  make  good. 

The  largest  number  of  no-license  elections  ever  held  in 
the  State  take  place  in  Wisconsin,  resulting  in  a  net 
gain  of  about  25  counties  for  the  dry  forces. 

Carl  Etherington,  a  special  officer,  who  is  compelled, 
in  self-defense,  to  shoot  a  speakeasy  keeper  as  a  re 
sult  of  a  raid  in  Newark,  Ohio,  is  lynched  by  a  drunken 
mob  on  the  public  square  of  Newark. 

Hon.  William  Jennings  Bryan  makes  a  fight  in  the 
Democratic  convention  for  a  county-option  plank. 

The  anti-liquor  forces  of  Tennessee  score  a  great  vic 
tory  in  the  election  of  Governor  Hooper  and  a  majority 
of  the  Legislature  favorable  to  the  prohibitory  law. 

1911 

The  Illinois  liquor  interests  are  overwhelmingly  de 
feated  in  their  attempt  to  repeal  the  township  local 
option  law  of  that  State. 

Forty-six  dry  counties  in  Indiana  go  wet  on  account  of 
the  repeal  of  the  county-option  law,  leaving  only  24  dry 
counties  out  of  92  in  the  State  and  reducing  the  number 
of  dry  townships  to  825  out  of  a  total  of  1,015. 

Every  candidate  on  the  State  ticket  in  Kentucky  who 
is  supported  by  the  liquor  interests  where  the.  temper 
ance  question  is  involved,  is  defeated  for  nomination. 

Five  out  of  68  legislative  bills  favorable  to  the  liquor 
traffic  are  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  New 
York  State. 


132        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

1912 

The  Prohibition  forces  of  Georgia  elect  a  Legislature 
favorable  to  Prohibition. 

Under  a  special  law  enacted  by  the  Michigan  Legisla 
ture,  providing  that  there  shall  not  be  more  than  one 
saloon  to  every  500  of  the  population,  about  200  upper 
peninsula  saloons  are  closed  on  May  1. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  hands  down 
a  decision  upholding  federal  Prohibition  in  Indian  Ter 
ritory  and  certain  portions  of  Indian  counties  in  Okla 
homa. 

The  United  States  Supreme  Court  hands  down  a  de 
cision  upholding  the  constitutionality  of  the  twenty-one 
year  Prohibition  clause  for  that  portion  of  the  new 
State  of  Oklahoma  which  was  originally  Indian  Ter 
ritory. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee  upholds  the  law  of 
that  State  prohibiting  the  manufacture  of  intoxicating 
liquors. 

The  people  of  West  Virginia  on  November  5  adopt  a 
constitutional  amendment  prohibiting  the  liquor  traffic 
by  a  majority  of  92,342  out  of  a  total  vote  of  235,843, 
the  law  to  become  effective  July  1,  1914. 
1913 

The  United  States  Congress  passes  the  Webb-Kenyon 
law  over  the  veto  of  President  William  H.  Taft,  thus 
prohibiting  the  shipment  in  interstate  commerce  of 
intoxicating  liquors  when  such  liquors  are  to  be  used 
in  violation  of  law. 

The  Jones-Works  bill  restricting  the  liquor  traffic 
in  the  District  of  Columbia  is  passed  by  Congress  in  the 
face  of  terrific  opposition,  thus  providing  for  the  reduc 
tion  of  the  number  of  saloons  to  not  more  than  300  by 
November  1,  1914. 

Of  the  28  local  option  elections  held  in  Illinois  on 
November  4,  22  result  in  dry  victories,  the  women's 
vote  strongly  aiding  the  victors. 


APPENDIX  A  133 

The  enfranchisement  of  women  in  Kansas  is  esti 
mated  to  have  added  300,000  voters  to  the  temperance 
army. 

In  sixteen  local  option  elections  in  Missouri,  between 
January  and  October,  the  population  in  dry  territory 
is  increased  by  143,282,  and  the  number  of  dry  counties 
is  increased  to  74. 

An  extra  session  of  the  Tennessee  Legislature  is  called 
by  Governor  Hooper  to  pass  the  nuisance  bill  and  the 
anti-shipping  bill. 

The   State  Supreme  Court  of  Wyoming  upholds  the 
constitutionality  of  the  Sunday-closing  law. 
1914 

The  people  of  Arizona,  by  a  majority  of  3,144  cut  of 
a  total  vote  of  less  than  50,000,  adopt  a  prohibitory  con 
stitutional  amendment  which  goes  into  effect  January 
1,  1915. 

At  the  November  election  in  Colorado  the  Prohibition 
amendment  to  the  State  constitution  submitted  to  a 
vote  of  the  people  was  adopted  by  a  majority  of  11,752. 
The  amendment  goes  into  effect  January  1,  1916. 

Oregon  adopts  State-wide  Prohibition  by  a  majority 
of  36,000,  the  Prohibition  vote  being  136,842  and  the 
license  vote  being  100,362.  As  a  result  of  this  law,  which 
went  into  effect  January  1,  1916,  900  saloons  and  18 
breweries  in  98  towns  were  closed.  Thirty-two  of  the 
34  counties  in  the  State  record  Prohibition  majorities. 

The  bill  for  an  election  on  State-wide  Prohibition 
which  had  failed  in  several  previous  Legislatures  in 
Virginia  is  adopted  by  the  Virginia  House  of  Delegates 
by  an  overwhelming  vote  in  the  1914  session  and  in  the 
Senate  by  the  casting  of  the  deciding  vote  on  a  tie  by 
the  president  of  that  body. 

A  Prohibition  amendment  to  the  constitution  of  the 
State  of  Washington  which  is  voted  upon  in  the  Novem 
ber  elections,  is  adopted  by  a  majority  of  18,632  out  of 
a  total  of  361,048  votes. 


134        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

The  election  of  Senator  Lawrence  Y.  Sherman  to  the 
United  States  Senate  from  Illinois,  in  face  of  the  ter 
rific  opposition  of  the  liquor  forces,  records  another  sig 
nificant  dry  victory. 

A  strong  anti-shipping  law  and  a  search-and-seizure 
law  are  enacted  by  the  Kentucky  Legislature. 

On  December  22  the  Hobson  resolution  providing  for 
the  submission  of  a  prohibitory  amendment  to  the 
federal  Constitution  is  voted  upon  in  Congress,  193 
votes  being  recorded  in  favor  of  the  measure  and  189 
votes  against  it. 

1915 

The  Legislature  of  Alabama  by  an  overwhelming  ma 
jority  passes  a  State-wide  prohibitory  law  which  is 
vetoed  by  the  governor  and  then  passed  by  the  Legisla 
ture  over  the  governor's  veto. 

By  a  majority  of  75  to  24  in  the  House  and  33  to  2 
in  the  Senate,  the  Arkansas  Legislature  adopts  a  State 
wide  Prohibition  law. 

The  State-wide  prohibitory  law  goes  into  effect  in 
Arizona  January  1. 

Statutory  Prohibition  goes  into  effect  in  Alabama  July 
1,  1915.  Liquor  advertisements  in  newspapers,  on  bill 
boards,  or  in  any  other  form,  are  prohibited  within  the 
State. 

The  Colorado  Legislature  passes  a  stringent  law  pro 
viding  for  the  enforcement  of  the  State  Prohibition 
amendment,  which  goes  into  effect  January  1,  1916. 

A  special  session  of  the  Georgia  Legislature  is  called 
and  enacts  a  law  to  secure  effective  enforcement  of 
Prohibition. 

The  1915  session  of  the  Utah  Legislature  enacts  a 
strong  Prohibition  bill,  with  only  5  votes  against  the 
measure  in  the  House  of  Representatives  and  2  in  the 
Senate.  Governor  Spry,  however,  holds  the  bill  until 
after  the  Legislature  has  adjourned,  and  then  attaches 
his  veto  to  the  measure. 


APPENDIX  A  185 

A  joint  resolution  calling  for  the  submission  of  a  pro 
hibitory  amendment  to  the  federal  constitution  was  in 
troduced  in  both  houses  of  the  Sixty-fourth  Congress, 
which  convened  in  December.  The  resolutions  were 
presented  in  the  Senate  by  Senator  Morris  Sheppard,  of 
Texas,  and  by  Senator  J.  H.  Gallinger,  of  New  Hamp 
shire;  in  the  House  by  Edwin  Y.  Webb,  of  North  Caro 
lina,  and  A.  T.  Smith,  of  Idaho. 

1916 

The  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  United  States  Senate, 
by  a  vote  of  13  to  3,  on  December  21  favorably  reports  to 
the  United  States  Senate  the  National  Prohibition  Reso 
lution  known  as  Senate  Joint  Resolution  No.  55. 

Prohibition  goes  into  effect  in  Arkansas,  Colorado, 
Idaho,  Iowa,  and  Washington,  on  January  1,  1916. 

Michigan  adopts  a  prohibitory  amendment  to  the 
State  constitution  by  a  vote  of  353,378  to  284,754,  on 
November  7. 

Montana  adopts  State-wide  Prohibition  by  a  vote  of 
102,776  to  73,890,  at  the  general  election  in  November. 

Constitutional  Prohibition  is  adopted  in  Nebraska  by 
a  vote  of  146,574  to  117,132,  at  the  November  election.  A 
prohibitory  statute  is  also  passed  by  the  Legislature. 

South  Dakota  adopts  constitutional  Prohibition  by  a 
majority  of  11,505  votes,  on  November  7. 

State-wide  Prohibition  goes  into  effect  in  Virginia  on 
November  1.  A  stringent  law-enforcement  measure  is 
passed  by  the  State  Legislature. 

1917 

The  resolution  submitting  to  the  States  the  National 
Prohibition  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  is  adopted  by  the  United  States  Senate 
on  August  1,  and  by  the  House  of  Representatives  on 
December  18. 

The  federal  Anti-Liquor  Advertising  bill,  carrying 
with  it  the  Reed  Bone-Dry  Amendment,  is  adopted  by 


136         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

the  United  States  Senate  on  February  15  and  by  the 
House  of  Representatives  on  February  21. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  on  January 
8,  1917,  hands  down  a  decision  upholding  the  constitu 
tionality  of  the  Webb-Kenyon  Interstate  Liquor  Ship 
ment  Law. 

The  District  of  Columbia  is  made  Prohibition  terri 
tory  by  a  bill  passed  by  the  United  States  Senate  on 
January  9,  and  by  the  House  of  Representatives  on  Feb 
ruary  28. 

A  bill  providing  for  Prohibition  in  the  territory  of 
Alaska  is  presented  in  both  houses  of  the  United  States 
Congress  early  in  January,  1917,  and  is  adopted  by  the 
Senate  on  January  31,  and  by  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  on  February  2.  The  Prohibition  measure  goes  into 
effect  January  1,  1918. 

A  provision  for  a  vote  on  the  question  of  Prohibition 
in  the  island  of  Porto  Rico  is  passed  by  the  United 
States  Congress,  as  an  amendment  to  the  Porto  Rican 
Citizenship  and  Civil  Government  bill.  At  a  special 
election  held  in  July,  1917,  the  voters  of  Porto  Rico  ap 
prove  the  Prohibition  measure  by  a  vote  of  99,775  to 
61,295. 

A  Food  Control  bill  is  passed  by  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  containing  a  provision  forbidding  the  use  of 
any  foods,  food  materials,  or  feeds  for  the  production  of 
alcoholic  beverages,  except  for  governmental,  industrial, 
scientific,  medicinal,  or  sacramental  purposes,  and  also 
authorizing  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  com 
mandeer  alcohol  and  distilled  spirits  for  government 
requirements.  As  a  result  of  a  threatened  filibuster 
against  this  food-control  bill  by  the  friends  of  the  liquor 
interests  in  the  United  States  Senate,  a  request  is  made 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  the  anti-liquor 
forces,  in  accordance  with  which  the  bill  is  finally 
changed  so  as  to  make  the  prohibition  of  the  use 
of  food  materials  in  the  manufacture  of  beer  and 


APPENDIX  A  137 

wine,  optional  with  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  bill  as  finally  passed  by  the  Senate  on  August  8 
and  signed  by  the  President  on  August  10,  provided 
for  the  prohibition  of  the  manufacture  of  distilled 
spirits  for  beverage  purposes,  prohibition  of  the  impor 
tation  of  distilled  spirits,  and  authorized  the  President 
to  commandeer  whisky  in  stock  as  well  as  in  bond,  at 
his  discretion,  to  reduce  the  alcoholic  content  of  beer 
and  wine,  and  to  limit,  regulate  or  prohibit  the  use  of 
food  materials  in  the  manufacture  of  beer  and  wine. 
According  to  the  terms  of  this  measure,  the  manufacture 
of  distilled  spirits  in  the  United  States  ceased  on  Sep 
tember  8,  1917. 

Georgia  passes  a  bone-dry  prohibitory  law,  barring 
even  the  possession  of  liquor  for  personal  use,  effective 
immediately  upon  its  passage. 

The  General  Assembly  of  Indiana  passes  a  State-wide 
prohibitory  statute,  to  go  into  effect  April  2,  1918. 

Constitutional  Prohibition  goes  into  effect  in  Nebraska 
May  1. 

New  Hampshire  adopts  State-wide  Prohibition,  by 
act  of  the  State  Legislature,  in  April,  1917. 

The  New  York  Legislature  passes  a  city  local  option 
bill,  which  enfranchises  more  than  8,000,000  people  liv 
ing  in  the  cities  of  the  State. 

The  North  Dakota  Legislature  passes  a  bone-dry  law 
which  is  signed  by  the  governor  on  March  9. 

Oklahoma  adopts  a  bone-dry  law  at  the  1917  session 
of  the  Legislature. 

State-wide  Prohibition  goes  into  effect  in  South  Da 
kota  on  July  1. 

Statutory  Prohibition  was  adopted  by  the  Utah  Legis 
lature,  the  bill  being  signed  by  the  governor  on  Febru 
ary  8,  and  becoming  effective  August  1. 

The  Washington  Legislature  passes  a  State  bone-dry 
law. 

The  Wyoming  Legislature  adopts  a  resolution  submit- 


138         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

ting  State-wide  constitutional  Prohibition  to  a  vote  of 
the  people. 

1918 

The  National  Prohibition  Amendment  to  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States  is  ratified  by  the  Legisla 
tures  of  the  following  States:  Mississippi,  Virginia, 
Kentucky,  South  Carolina,  North  Dakota,  Maryland, 
Montana,  Texas,  Delaware,  South  Dakota,  Massachu 
setts,  Arizona,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Florida. 

Prohibition  goes  into  effect  in  Alaska  on  January  1, 
1918. 

An  amendment  to  the  Agricultural  Appropriation  bill 
is  offered  in  the  United  States  House  of  Representatives, 
by  Congressman  Randall,  providing  that  no  part  of  this 
appropriation  shall  be  available  unless  the  use  of  grains 
in  the  manufacture  of  beer  be  prohibited.  An  amend 
ment  to  this  bill  is  offered  in  the  Senate  by  Senator 
Jones,  to  prohibit  the  use  of  cereals  and  fruit  in  the 
manufacture  of  intoxicants.  The  Agricultural  Appro 
priation  bill  is  passed  by  the  Senate  on  September  6, 
with  a  Prohibition  amendment,  and  approved  by  the 
President  on  November  21.  The  law  as  finally  approved 
prohibits  the  manufacture  of  beer  and  wine,  after  May 
1,  1919,  and  forbids  the  sale  of  distilled,  malt,  and  vinous 
intoxicants  after  June  30,  1919. 

On  December  1,  1918,  the  use  of  foods  and  food  ma 
terials  in  the  manufacture  of  beer  was  ordered  stopped 
by  the  food  administration  of  the  federal  government. 

Florida  adopts  State-wide  Prohibition  by  a  majority 
of  8,242  at  the  November  election. 

At  a  special  session  of  the  Louisiana  Legislature  called 
in  August  the  National  Prohibition  Amendment  is  ratified. 

State-wide  Prohibition  goes  into  effect  in  Michigan  on 
May  1. 

State-wide  Prohibition  goes  into  effect  in  Montana  on 
December  31,  in  New  Hampshire  May  1,  and  in  New 
Mexico  October  1. 


APPENDIX  A  139 

State-wide  Prohibition  is  adopted  in  Nevada  at  the 
November  election,  and  goes  into  effect  on  December  16. 

Ohio  adopts  State-wide  Prohibition  by  a  majority  of 
25,759. 

Prohibition  goes  into  effect  in  Porto  Rico  on  March  2. 

Utah  adopts  a  prohibitory  amendment  to  the  State 
constitution  at  the  November  election. 

A  bone-dry  amendment  to  the  constitution  of  Wash 
ington  is  adopted  by  a  majority  of  41,778  votes,  at  the 
November  election. 

State-wide  Prohibition  is  adopted  at  the  general  elec 
tion  in  Wyoming,  by  15,000  majority. 

1919 

The  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  providing  for  National  Prohibition,  is  ratified 
by  the  Legislatures  of  three  fourths  of  the  States,  on 
January  16,  1919,  and  becomes  the  Eighteenth  Amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  Act 
ing  Secretary  of  State  issues  a  proclamation  on  January 
29,  declaring  this  amendment  a  valid  part  of  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States.  During  the  early  part 
of  the  year  1919  the  amendment  is  ratified  by  the  fol 
lowing  State  Legislatures:  Michigan,  Ohio,  Oklahoma, 
Maine,  Idaho,  West  Virginia,  Washington,  Tennessee, 
California,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Arkansas,  North  Carolina, 
Alabama,  Kansas,  Oregon,  Iowa,  Utah,  Colorado,  New 
Hampshire,  Nebraska,  Missouri,  Wyoming,  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota,  New  Mexico,  Nevada,  Vermont,  New  York, 
and  Pennsylvania. 

A  resolution  providing  for  ratification  of  the  Na 
tional  Prohibition  Amendment  is  defeated  in  the  New 
Jersey  Senate  by  a  vote  of  10  to  8,  on  March  10. 

The  Senate  of  Rhode  Island  votes  to  indefinitely  post 
pone  consideration  of  the  National  Prohibition  Amend 
ment  to  the  United  States  Constitution,  by  a  vote  of  25 
to  12,  on  February  6. 


APPENDIX  B 

GENERAL   McDOUGALL'S   INDORSEMENT   OP 
JAMES  B.   MERWIN 

NEW  YOBK  CITY,  Jan.  8,  1863. 
Hon.  J.  Harlan 
U.  S.  Senate. 

Dear  Sir:  I  avail  myself  of  your  kindness  to  me 
heretofore  to  write  you  a  line  by  our  mutual  friend  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Merwin.  Mr.  Merwin  has  been  my  invaluable 
cooperator  in  the  good  work  in  the  Department  of  New 
York  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  tell  you  what  a  worker 
he  is.  His  services  are  known  to  the  whole  Army.  He 
will  inform  you  what  we  have  done  and  are  doing  here 
and  what  we  want. 

I  must  beg  you  to  mention  me  very  kindly  to  your 
good  lady  and  say  to  her  that  I  still  hear  of  her  wher 
ever  I  hear  of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers. 

Accept  of  my  wishes  for  continued  health  and  happi 
ness  to  yourself. 

Very  respectfully 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

C.  MCDOUGALL, 
Medical  Director 
Dept.  of  the  East, 
U.  S.  A. 


140 


APPENDIX  C 

THE  1855  PROHIBITION  BATTLE  IN  ILLINOIS 
HISTORY 

LOCAL  historians  and  Illinois  newspapers  gave  a  good 
deal  of  space  to  the  Illinois  temperance  wave  of  1855. 
The  temperance  people  had  elected  a  Whig-Prohibition 
governor  in  New  York,  and  the  Dow  Law  was  a  leading 
topic  of  discussion  all  over  the  country.  The  Illinois 
Legislature  in  the  early  winter  of  1855  passed  a  strin 
gent  Prohibition  Act,  inhibiting  the  sale  and  manufac 
ture  of  spirituous,  vinous  or  malt  liquors  under  heavy 
penalties,  together  with  the  destruction  of  liquors.  The 
law  contained  certain  exceptions  in  favor  of  the  making 
of  cider,  wines,  and  beer  and  ale  for  export.  Importers 
were  allowed  to  sell  in  the  original  packages  only.  Be 
fore  becoming  effective  the  Act  provided  that  it  should 
be  submitted  to  a  referendum  vote  at  a  special  election 
to  be  held  in  June,  1855. 

In  1851  a  stringent  act  known  as  the  "Quart  Law"  had 
been  adopted,  but  the  enforcement  of  this  law  produced 
great  popular  resentment,  and  it  was  repealed  in  1853. 
This  reverse  did  not  discourage  the  friends  of  temper 
ance.  They  held  a  State  convention  in  Springfield  in 
January,  1854,  attended  by  delegates  to  the  number  of 
200  from  all  parts  of  the  State.  The  leading  partici 
pants  were  S.  D.  Lockwood,  formerly  supreme  judge, 
the  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  D.D.,  B.  S.  Edwards,  S.  W.  Robins, 
Thomas  M.  Taylor,  G.  P.  West,  W.  C.  Vanmeter,  Judge 
Grover,  and  others.  The  use  of  the  Hall  of  Representa 
tives  was  denied  the  temperance  people  after  a  pro 
tracted  debate  in  the  House  by  a  vote  of  33  to  36.  This 

141 


142        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

convention  drafted  a  bill  similar  in  its  provisions  to 
the  Maine  Law,  which  was  presented  to  the  General 
Assembly  for  adoption,  and  defeated,  some  of  the  strong 
est  members  believing  that  moral  suasion  was  the 
proper  solution  of  the  drink  problem.  At  the  special 
session  in  February,  1854,  the  friends  of  temperance 
again  assembled  at  Springfield.  The  attendance  was 
chiefly  from  the  northern  part  of  the  State.  The  pro 
hibitory  bill  was  again  introduced  in  the  Legislature, 
and  this  time  favorably  reported  upon  by  the  Commit 
tee  on  Temperance.  J.  M.  Palmer  moved  the  submission 
clause  as  an  amendment,  but  for  want  of  time  no  final 
action  was  taken. 

The  constitutionality  of  the  law  was  challenged,  but 
at  the  June  term  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in  the  case  of 
Jacksonville  v.  Godard,  it  was  clarified.  Jacksonville 
by  ordinance  had  declared  the  sale  of  liquors  a  nuisance. 
It  was  contended  by  the  defendant  that  liquor  was 
property,  and  that  its  acquirement  and  disposition  was 
natural  and  constitutional  and  could  not  be  invaded  on 
the  authority  of  the  State;  that  it  might  be  regulated 
but  could  not  be  destroyed.  The  court  held  that  this 
doctrine  as  a  universal  principle  was  not  tenable;  it 
depended  upon  the  kind  of  property,  its  use  and  dis 
posal.  The  court  held  that  both  natural  and  social 
rights  in  a  political  state  were  surrendered  to  the  well- 
being  of  society.  These  police  powers  destroyed  neither 
Magna  Charta  nor  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution;  the 
act  and  the  thing  with  its  use  must  be  judged  by  its 
effects,  and  when  adjudged  mischievous  the  power  of 
the  government  must  regulate  them.  We  had  a  right  to 
our  gold  and  silver,  yet  could  not  coin  it.  We  might 
labor  and  rest,  yet  were  not  allowed  to  become  idlers, 
vagrants,  or  vagabonds.  We  might  dispose  of  property, 
yet  had  no  right  to  gamble  it  away.  And  to  reach  the 
effect  we  might  remove  the  cause.  Judge  Scates  de 
livered  the  opinion  of  the  court. 


APPENDIX  C  143 

The  Prohibition  Bill,  framed  on  the  lines  of  the  Maine 
Law,  came  before  the  Legislature  in  1855.  That  body 
was  Republican,  or,  rather,  "Fusion"  by  a  combination 
of  Whigs  and  anti-Nebraska  Democrats.  The  bill,  after 
being  amended  by  the  Senate,  passed  both  Houses  and 
under  the  submission  clause  went  to  the  people  for 
final  approval. 

B.  S.  Edwards,  a  lawyer  of  ability  and  high  standing, 
took  a  leading  part  in  the  contest  for  the  adoption  of 
the  Prohibition  law.  He  was  credited  by  many  at  the 
time  with  being  the  framer  of  the  bill.  Generally 
speaking,  the  northern  counties  of  the  State  were  for 
the  measure.  The  politicians  rather  generally  held 
aloof  from  the  discussion  or  the  propaganda.  The  liquor 
people  circulated  garbled  copies,  with  forged  interpo 
lations  forbidding  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  cider 
among  the  farmers  of  the  State.  Its  opponents  argued 
that  its  adoption  would  mean  that  liberty  would  be 
crushed.  The  bill  was  defeated  in  June  by  a  State-wide 
majority  of  about  14,000  votes.  The  northern  counties, 
with  the  exception  of  Cook  and  Rock  Island,  approved 
the  bill. 

MAINE    LAW   RIOT    IN    CHICAGO 

Section  36  of  the  Prohibitory  Bill  provided  that  "All 
laws  authorizing  the  granting  of  licenses  to  sell  spirit 
uous,  intoxicating  or  mixed  liquors  shall  be  repealed 
from  and  after  the  date  of  the  passage  of  this  Act," 
February  12.  Section  39  read,  "The  provisions  of  this 
Act  shall  take  effect  on  the  first  Monday  of  July  next," 
provided  that  if  a  majority  of  the  ballots  to  be  de 
posited  were  against  Prohibition,  then  the  Act  was  to 
be  of  no  force  nor  effect  whatever.  In  March  the  City 
Council  of  Chicago  required  all  persons  selling  liquor 
to  take  out  licenses  at  the  rate  of  $300  a  year.  Many  of 
the  saloon-keepers  were  German.  Acting  under  legal 
advice  as  to  the  construction  of  the  State  prohibitory 


144         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

law  that  the  city  had  no  legal  authority  to  issue  li 
censes  from  February  to  July,  and  that  every  person 
choosing  so  to  do  had  the  right  to  sell  liquor  within 
that  period  according  to  Section  36,  many  liquor  dealers 
refused  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  City 
Council,  and  continued  to  sell  liquor.  Warrants  were 
issued,  and  some  thirty  German  saloon-keepers  were  ar 
rested.  They  were  tried  hefore  Judge  Rucker.  On  the 
day  of  the  trial  the  Germans  thronged  the  courtroom 
until  it  was  impossible  to  proceed.  The  police  cleared 
the  room,  and  the  crowd  retired  to  an  adjoining  room, 
from  which,  on  account  of  their  noise,  they  were  also 
excluded.  With  the  beating  of  drums  the  crowd  now 
took  possession  of  Randolph  Street,  excluded  the  passing 
pedestrian,  and  "armed  with  bludgeons,  knives,  and  pis 
tols  speedily  developed  into  a  mob,  insulting  everyone 
coming  within  range  and  bidding  defiance  to  the  police. 
The  latter  attempted  to  open  the  sidewalk  by  force  and 
a  general  battle  ensued,  resulting  in  the  death  of  two 
policemen,  as  many  Germans,  and  the  serious  wounding 
of  a  great  number.  The  streets  were  cleared  and  order 
reestablished  by  the  aid  of  the  military;  fifty-three  Ger 
mans  were  arrested  and  lodged  in  Jail.  It  was  a  day  of 
outraged  law,  disgrace,  and  blood  for  Chicago.  On  the 
next  day  [Sunday]  the  city  was  put  under  martial  law." 


APPENDIX  D 
MERWIN'S   STATEMENT   TO   THE   WRITER 

THE  following  statement  was  dictated  by  James  B. 
Merwin  to  Charles  T.  White  in  Brooklyn,  New  York, 
March  31,  1917: 

In  addition  to  the  facts  set  forth  in  the  printed  Pro 
ceedings  of  the  Sixteenth  National  Convention  of  the 
Anti-Saloon  League  of  America  at  Atlantic  City,  July 
6-9,  1915,  at  which  time  I  was  interrogated  at  length 
with  reference  to  my  association  with  Abraham  Lincoln, 
both  in  1855  and  during  the  entire  period  of  the  Civil 
War,  I  desire  to  place  on  record  a  memorandum  about 
a  document  in  my  possession  which  I  always  have  re 
garded  as  of  great  interest  and  value  to  the  cause  of 
temperance  reform.  This  document  is  dilapidated  from 
wear,  because  I  carried  it  about  with  me  for  the  four 
years  of  the  war,  and  it  has  had  a  great  deal  of  wear  and 
tear  since.  It  bears  the  written  indorsements  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  General  Winfield  Scott,  and  General  Ben 
jamin  P.  Butler,  and  the  signatures  of  Senator  Charles 
Sumner,  of  Massachusetts;  Governor  Buckingham,  of 
Connecticut;  O.  H.  Browning,  of  Illinois;  Richard  Yates, 
of  Illinois;  Senator  James  Harlan,  of  Iowa;  Senator 
Henry  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts;  Senator  Lyman  Trum- 
bull,  of  Illinois;  Senator  J.  R.  Doolittle,  Senator  James 
W.  Grimes,  Senator  Timothy  O.  Howe;  David  Wilmot, 
author  of  the  famous  Wilmot  Proviso;  Judge  Isaac 
N.  Arnold,  who  served  in  Congress  with  Lincoln,  and 
wrote  a  life  of  him;  Congressman  John  F.  Potter;  John 
Lane  Scripps,  editor  of  the  Chicago  Tribune;  Judge 
Thomas  Drummond,  and  scores  of  others,  including 
men  prominent  in  Congress  and  in  the  Senate.  This 

145 


146        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

document  in  its  original  content  was  a  petition  written 
at  the  suggestion  of  Abraham  Lincoln  soon  after  his 
first  inauguration,  by  Governor  Buckingham  of  Con 
necticut,  a  friend  of  mine,  asking  the  President  officially 
to  appoint  or  designate  me  as  a  major  of  volunteers  to 
urge  total  abstinence  among  the  soldiers  in  and  around 
Washington,  in  the  hospitals  and  camps,  wherever  I 
might  find  opportunity. 

Lincoln  in  1855  was  a  poor  country  lawyer,  and  his 
practice,  while  considerable,  was  anything  but  lucrative. 
Stenographers  were  a  rarity  in  Illinois  at  that  time. 
It  would  have  been  surprising  if  any  record  of  a  tem 
perance  address  in  1855  was  made. 

It  may  be  well  for  me  to  sketch  here  my  association 
with  Lincoln  and  the  incidents  leading  up  to  it.  After 
temperance  campaign  work  in  the  State  of  Connecticut, 
on  the  solicitation  of  friends  in  Illinois,  who  wanted  a 
law  for  Illinois  like  the  Dow  Law  in  Maine,  I  went  to 
Springfield  in  the  early  winter  of  1854.  There  was  a 
temperance  meeting  in  progress  in  the  old  State  House 
the  night  I  arrived.  I  went  to  it.  After  a  number  of 
addresses,  there  were  calls  for  "Abe  Lincoln!"  from 
various  parts  of  the  assembly  room.  These  were  re 
peated  until  finally  some  one  went  out  and  summoned 
him.  He  had  been  reading  law  in  the  State  Library. 
When  he  entered  the  Assembly  Room  he  wore  an  ab 
surd-looking  coat,  with  sleeves  too  short  for  him  by 
nearly  a  foot.  In  his  hurried  response  to  the  call,  he 
had  picked  up  the  janitor's  coat,  and  put  it  on  while 
walking  through  the  corridor  on  his  way  to  the  Assem 
bly  Chamber.  There  was  a  titter  at  his  appearance,  but 
it  stopped  as  soon  as  he  began  to  talk.  No  one  ever  had 
occasion  to  laugh  at  Abraham  Lincoln  when  he  was 
speaking  from  the  heart.  He  made  a  most  wonderful  tem 
perance  address,  far  more  powerful  than  that  made  by 
him  in  Springfield  on  February  22,  1842,  and  quoted 
in  the  histories. 


APPENDIX  D  147 

After  the  meeting  I  introduced  myself  to  him,  told  him 
my  mission  to  Springfield,  and  we  went  to  his  home  to 
gether.  I  had  with  me  a  copy  of  the  Maine  Law,  and 
we  sat  up  all  night  looking  over  that  statute.  I  was 
a  young  man  of  about  twenty-six  then,  and  Lincoln 
was  about  forty-five. 

That  was  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  for  the 
adoption  of  a  prohibition  law  for  the  State  of  Illinois. 
Mr.  Lincoln  set  to  work  to  frame  a  law,  and  he  worked 
at  it  almost  constantly  for  days.  After  he  had  completed 
it  he  had  me  take  it  around  the  State  to  get  the  views  of 
his  lawyer  friends  and  of  those  most  interested.  I 
showed  it  to  John  M.  Palmer,  Leonard  Swett,  Jesse 
Fell,  and  others.  I  went  to  the  home  of  Judge  David 
Davis,  and  asked  him  to  pass  judgment  on  it.  Lincoln 
had  told  me,  half  humorously,  that  Judge  Davis's  wife 
was  a  former  Yankee  schoolmarm,  and  for  that  reason 
he  thought  the  Judge  might  be  interested  in  the  law. 
Davis  was  busy,  and  surly,  and  asked  me  if  Mr.  Lincoln 
had  sent  a  retainer  along  to  pay  for  the  work.  I  was 
obliged  to  tell  him  he  had  not.  When  I  reported  this 
back  to  Mr.  Lincoln  he  seemed  deeply  hurt,  as  he  had 
assumed  that  Judge  Davis,  on  account  of  their  long-time 
friendship,  would  be  interested  in  it.  He  spoke  to  me 
about  the  incident  just  before  he,  as  President,  appointed 
Judge  Davis  to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  bench. 

President  Lincoln  all  of  his  life  from  young  manhood 
on,  was  a  total  abstainer  from  alcoholic  drink.  In  1855 
he  made  more  than  a  score  of  addresses  in  the  campaign 
waged  under  the  direction  of  the  Illinois  State  Maine 
Law  Alliance  that  year  for  State-wide  prohibition  of 
the  liquor  traffic,  the  issue  before  the  people  being  on 
the  proposed  adoption  of  a  prohibition  amendment  to 
the  State  constitution.  Lincoln  was  heart  and  soul  in 
favor  of  it.  The  temperance  people  came  within  four 
teen  thousand  votes  of  carrying  the  amendment.  Thou 
sands  of  fraudulent  votes  were  run  into  the  State  from 


148        LINCOLN  AND  PKOHIBITION 

Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  Wisconsin  by  the  liquor  men. 
I  was  with  Lincoln  practically  every  day  during  that 
campaign.  He  spoke  with  tremendous  eloquence  and 
power.  So  far  as  I  know  not  one  of  his  addresses  in  that 
campaign  was  preserved.  The  cause  was  not  popular 
with  the  newspapers.  In  nearly  every  instance  the 
addresses  were  delivered  in  the  open  air,  generally  from 
courthouse  steps. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  I  was  in  Detroit,  en 
gaged  in  temperance  work.  Lincoln  sent  for  me  and  I 
went  to  Washington.  He  outlined  what  he  wanted.  The 
soldiers  were  the  victims,  especially  following  pay  days, 
of  the  rumsellers.  My  work,  by  mutual  agreement,  was 
to  mitigate  as  far  as  practicable,  the  curse  of  whisky 
among  the  soldiers.  In  order  to  give  me  an  official 
standing  the  document  already  referred  to  was,  on  the 
suggestion  of  the  President,  drawn  up  by  Governor 
Buckingham  and  widely  signed  by  some  of  the  greatest 
men  of  the  nation — by  men  close  to  the  President.  The 
indorsements  by  Generals  Scott  and  Butler  tell  their 
own  story.  The  indorsement  by  Lincoln  is  guarded  in 
its  tone  because,  I  presume,  as  commander-in-chief  of 
the  Union  army  he  wished  to  avoid  embarrassing  the 
service  by  establishing  a  precedent  that  might  possibly 
prove  troublesome.  But  my  task  was,  as  I  have  stated, 
talking  total  abstinence  to  the  soldiers,  and  that  is 
what  Lincoln  wanted  me  to  do. 

That  was  my  task  during  the  entire  period  of  the  war. 
Part  of  the  time,  on  account  of  lameness,  I  rode  about 
in  and  spoke  from  the  President's  carriage.  Whenever 
I  landed  in  Washington  I  slept  in  a  small  room  on  the 
top  floor  of  the  White  House.  Of  my  intercourse  with 
President  Lincoln  I  have  spoken  and  written  much.  My 
purpose  in  making  this  statement  is  not  so  much  to 
give  a  reminiscence  of  Lincoln  as  to  place  on  record 
evidence  concerning  the  dilapidated  old  document  which 
served,  sometimes  against  the  severest  opposition,  as  a 


To  all  irnom  it  may  concern: 


ijealr  Quarters  Citjjj£t;it^, 


1JC,     That  the  bear 


Got.  I'.  S.  ,?.,  1',-oi-osl  3farsJ:a 

^p^^/ 


JAMES  B.  MERWIN'S  PASS  FOR  HIMSELF  AND  DRIVER 


APPENDIX  D  149 

guarantee  of  my  position.  I  had  another  pass,  written 
and  signed  by  President  Lincoln,  which  I  still  have  in 
my  possession,  and  this  carried  me  everywhere.  The 
old  document  about  which  I  am  commenting,  was  "lost" 
almost  as  soon  as  I  began  to  use  it.  I  left  it  with  the 
War  Department  in  the  summer  of  1861  on  the  request 
of  department  officials,  and  when  I  tried  to  get  it  back 
it  was  "missing."  I  told  the  President.  He  sent  a 
peremptory  order  to  Secretary  Cameron,  ordering  the 
production  of  the  lost  paper.  It  was  almost  instantly 
"found"  and  returned  to  me. 
Brooklyn,  New  York,  March  31,  1917. 


APPENDIX  E 
BANKER  A.  J.  BABER  CONFIRMS  MERWIN 

THE  following  letter  confirms  the  oft-repeated  asser 
tion  by  James  B.  Merwin  that  Lincoln  took  part  in  the 
prohibition  campaign  in  Illinois  in  the  summer  of  1855. 
The  writer  of  the  letter,  A.  J.  Baber,  for  many  years  was 
president  of  a  bank  in  his  home  town  of  Paris,  Illinois, 
and  was  not  a  total  abstainer.  His  contribution,  sent 
to  John  G.  Woolley,  apparently  was  wholly  in  the  inter 
est  of  truth.  The  letter  follows. 

January  24,  1914. 
Mr.  John  G.  Woolley, 

Madison,  Wis. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  promised  to  write  you  a  few  lines  in  regard 
to  Mr.  Lincoln  being  a  temperance  man.  I  know  he 
was  a  full-fledged  temperance  man,  but  as  to  being  a 
Prohibitionist,  I  have  forgotten  whether  he  was  really  a 
Prohibitionist,  but  I  know  he  was  an  ardent  temperance 
man.  I  saw  him  many  times  when  he  would  come  to 
Edgar  County  to  attend  court.  In  early  days  the  law 
yers  would  follow  the  circuit.  The  judge  would  have 
several  counties  to  hold  court  in,  and  the  lawyers  would 
start  in  with  the  judge  and  all  go  together,  and  this 
was  called  the  circuit,  and  Lincoln  would  follow  the 
circuit;  this  brought  him  to  Paris  twice  a  year  for  quite 
a  number  of  years.  And,  as  Lincoln  was  an  ingenious 
talker  and  a  fine  story-teller,  I  would  frequently  wedge 
in  to  hear  the  stories,  and  whenever  the  question  of 
liquor  would  come  up,  the  lawyers  would  all  talk,  and 
most  of  them  would  go  to  the  saloon  and  take  a  drink, 
but  Lincoln  always  refused. 

150 


APPENDIX  E  151 

I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  election  held  in 
this  State  in  1855  on  the  prohibition  question.  The 
Legislature  passed  a  bill  during  the  session  of  1854  and 
1855  to  submit  the  question  to  a  vote  of  the  people. 
The  election  was  to  be  held  on  the  fourth  of  June,  1855. 
That  was  in  the  early  settling  of  the  prairie  land  of  our 
country,  when  the  chills  came  every  year,  and  also 
rattlesnakes  were  bad  in  the  prairie,  and  we  were  taught 
to  get  a  gallon  jug  of  liquor  and  put  a  certain  amount 
of  roots  and  herbs  in  it.  It  would  keep  the  chills  away, 
and  also  cure  snakebite,  and  the  consequence  was  that 
nearly  everybody  kept  a  jug  in  the  house,  and  occasion 
ally  got  it  refilled. 

Well,  the  people  nearly  all  became  orators,  some  taking 
one  side  and  some  the  other.  Meetings  were  held  at 
the  schoolhouses  and  meetinghouses  and  at  the  cross 
roads.  It  seemed  like  nearly  everybody  could  talk  some, 
and  so  it  went  on.  Politics  never  entered  the  question 
until  Stephen  A.  Douglas  came  out  in  a  great  speech  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  the  State  and  told  the  people 
to  bury  "Maine  Lawism"  and  "Abolitionism"  all  in  the 
same  grave.  Then  the  Democrats  knew  what  to  do. 
They  went  in  with  a  whoop  against  Prohibition,  while 
the  Whigs  and  Republicans  were  mostly  for  Prohibition. 

I  don't  know  how  often  Mr.  Lincoln  spoke,  but  I  will 
call  your  attention  to  one  time.  While  at  court  session 
in  1855  my  business  called  me  to  Paris,  and  I  saw  Lin 
coln  and  Ficklin,  Linder  and  Judge  Harlan,  sitting  in 
the  shade  of  the  Paris  House,  and  I  went  to  where  they 
were.  Becoming  acquainted  with  all  of  them,  they  in 
vited  me  to  sit  down.  I  did  so,  and  very  soon  Lincoln 
spoke  up  and  said  that  Col.  Baldwin  had  invited  him 
to  come  to  his  place  and  make  a  temperance  speech, 
and  it  was  about  time  he  was  going.  Linder  and  Fick 
lin  opposed  his  going — rather  made  sport  of  him — but 
Harlan  said:  "Let  him  go.  He  will  prove  to  the  people 
that  they  have  some  rights  besides  what  is  in  a  jug." 


152        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Baldwin  was  to  come  after  Lincoln,  but  didn't  come 
in  time,  and  Lincoln  started  afoot  and  walked  to  the 
place  of  speaking,  six  miles  out.  Lincoln  expected  to 
meet  Baldwin  coming,  but  Baldwin  came  another  road 
and  he  missed  him.  It  was  a  hot  day  and  Lincoln  wore 
a  long  linen  duster,  and  made  the  trip  just  to  make  a 
temperance  speech — walked  six  miles  on  a  hot  day. 

Well,  I  am  getting  this  story  too  long.  I  must  close. 
The  election  was  held  and  our  county  (Edgar)  voted 
against  Prohibition. 

The  vote  stood:  For  Prohibition,  810;  against  Pro 
hibition,  1,331. 

The  vote  in  the  State  was:  For  Prohibition,  79,010; 
against  Prohibition,  93,102;  defeated  by  14,092. 

While  I  have  forgotten  just  how  Mr.  Lincoln  stood, 
I  believe  he  was  for  Prohibition  at  that  time,  but  he 
didn't  want  to  see  it  made  a  party  question  so  as  to 
break  up  the  Republican  Party  that  was  just  forming 
and  coming  to  the  front. 

Now,  Mr.  Woolley,  I  fear  I  have  stretched  this  little 
story  probably  too  long.  You  may  not  have  time  to  read 
it;  have  written  it  in  a  great  hurry  at  night,  and  had 
a  poor  light,  so  will  close.  I  trust  you  are  well  and  all 
right.  I  am  eighty-two  years  old  and  making  a  hand. 
I  would  like  to  hear  from  you  occasionally. 
Very  truly  yours, 

A.  J.  BASER, 
Paris,  111.,  January  14,  1914. 

P.  S.  I  will  say  here,  in  1855  under  good  old  Demo 
cratic  times,  you  could  buy  whisky  for  25c  per  gallon, 
goo(i  whisky  at  that. 


APPENDIX  F 
MERWIN'S    LETTER    TO    DR.    BLAKESLEE 

DB.  F.  D.  BLAKESLEE,  of  Binghamton,  Anti-Saloon 
League  District  Superintendent,  wrote  J.  B.  Merwin 
concerning  Lincoln's  temperance  principles,  and  in  his 
letter  remarked  that  the  number  of  persons  now  living 
who  saw  Abraham  Lincoln  later  than  Major  Merwin  did 
must  be  few,  but  that  he  (Dr.  B.)  was  among  the  few, 
having  seen  and  saluted  Lincoln  at  the  Washington 
Navy  Yard  between  five  and  six  o'clock  the  day  he  was 
assassinated.  To  this  Chaplain  Merwin  replied  as  fol 
lows: 

MlDDLEFIELD,   CONN.,  July  5,  1910. 

My  Dear  Dr.  Blakeslee: 

I  read  your  letter  of  June  30th  with  interest  and 
pleasure. 

My  last  interview  with  the  great  and  good  Lincoln 
is  a  long  story.  I  knew  him  from  1854  on  to  the  day 
he  was  assassinated.  Dined  with  him  that  day. 

The  Cabinet  meeting  ended  early,  a  little  before  12 
o'clock.  I  left  him  after  dinner  about  2:30  for  New 
York  on  a  special  mission  to  see  Horace  Greeley  and 
submit  to  him  a  paper  Mr.  Lincoln  had  written  on  using 
the  colored  troops  for  digging  the  Panama  Canal. 

Lee  had  surrendered.  Jefferson  Davis  was  a  fugitive. 
The  great  heart  of  President  Lincoln  was  burdened  with 
the  problem  as  how  best  to  dispose  of  the  180,000  colored 
troops  with  arms  in  their  hands.  Major  General  Ben 
Butler  said:  "Mr.  President,  I  can  help  you  solve 
that  problem.  The  terms  of  enlistment  of  these  troops 
will  not  expire  for  a  year  or  more.  As  a  military 

153 


154        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

measure,  take  them  to  Panama  and  build  the  canal 
with  them.  Make  me  a  major-general,  put  me  in  com 
mand,  and  we  will  take  them  over  and  build  and  own 
the  teanal.  As  fast  as  possible  we  will  take  their  families 
to  them;  the  climate  is  about  the  same  as  they  are  used 
to;  give  them  some  land,  and  we  will  dig  and  own  the 
canal." 

"What  does  Seward  say?  What  does  or  what  will 
Congress  say?"  asked  President  Lincoln. 

"All  favorable." 

"What  will  Greeley  say?" 

He  was  rather  more  afraid  of  Greeley  than  of  Jeffer 
son  Davis. 

I  had  known  Greeley  well;  had  been  on  several  mis 
sions  to  Mr.  Greeley  for  the  President.  I  could  and  did 
go  many  times  where  and  when  his  secretaries  could 
not  well  go,  for  they  were  known. 

I  was  not  especially  known.  I  was  on  General  Dix's 
staff  in  New  York.  Had  charge  of  the  sick  and  wounded 
soldiers  passing  to  and  from  the  hospitals  through  the 
city  at  that  time.  He  telegraphed  General  Dix  to  send 
me  to  Washington  by  first  train.  I  left  New  York  Tues 
day  night,  reached  Washington  Wednesday  morning. 
A  great  crowd  of  people  were  around  the  White  House. 
I  held  the  telegram  up.  President  Lincoln  saw  it;  said, 
"Come  at  ten  to-night."  It  was  twelve  at  night  before 
he  could  get  away  and  lock  up.  We  worked  until  three 
A.  M.  and  then  retired.  Thursday  night  we  worked  on 
the  proposition  until  three  A.  M.  and  still  it  did  not  quite 
suit  Mr.  Lincoln.  Friday  was  cabinet  meeting.  He 
locked  all  the  doors  at  its  close  and  ordered  our  dinner 
brought  up.  He  finished  the  paper.  We  ate  dinner  and 
he  read  it  over.  One  door  was  not  locked.  Mrs.  Lincoln 
came  and  said:  "Abe,  the  Ford's  Theater  people  have 
tendered  us  a  box  for  this  evening,  and  I  have  accepted 
it.  The  Grants  are  going  with  us,  and  I  do  not  want 
you  to  make  any  other  engagement." 


APPENDIX  F  155 

Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "Mary,  I  don't  think  we  ought 
to  go  to  the  theater.  Do  you  remember  it  is  Good  Fri 
day,  a  religious  day  with  a  great  many  people,  and  I 
don't  think  we  ought  to  go  to  the  theater  to-night." 

Mrs.  Lincoln  said:     "We  are  going." 

We  finished  dinner.  He  read  the  paper  over  again. 
He  folded  it  carefully  and  handed  it  to  me  saying, 
"Merwin,  we  have  cleaned  up  a  colossal  job.  We  have 
abolished  slavery.  After  reconstruction  the  next  great 
movement  on  the  part  of  the  people  will  be  the  over 
throw  of  the  legalized  liquor  traffic,  and  yon  know  my 
heart  and  my  hand,  my  purse  and  my  life  will  be  given 
to  that  great  movement." 

"Mr.  Lincoln,  shall  I  make  this  public?"  asked  I. 

He  said,  "Yes;  publish  it  as  broad  as  the  daylight." 
With  that  he  shook  my  hand  again  and  said,  "By  the 
way,  stop  over  in  Philadelphia  and  see  the  editors  there." 

I  stopped  over  in  Philadelphia,  waited  until  12  o'clock. 
The  editors  did  not  come.  I  went  to  the  Continental 
Hotel,  and  to  my  room,  and  then  the  news  came  that 
Lincoln  had  been  assassinated.  In  the  morning  I  took 
the  cars  for  New  York,  waited  two  hours  to  see  Greeley, 
and  left  the  paper  with  Sidney  Gay,  brother-in-law  to 
Greetey  and  assistant  business  manager  of  the  Tribune. 
He  gave  the  paper  to  Greeley  and  that  was  the  last  of  it. 
It  was  mislaid ;  could  not  be  found.  Lincoln  had  passed 
on  into  the  eternal  silences,  and  we  are  not  yet  "re 
constructed." 

But  we  are  doing  something  to  abolish  the  legalized 
liquor  traffic.  I  am,  first,  last,  and  all  the  time  a  Pro 
hibitionist,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  was,  but  if  I  could  not  pro 
hibit  and  suppress  the  traffic  in  all  the  territory  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  if  I  could  persuade  a  town,  city  or 
county  to  vote  it  out,  I  would  do  that  and  be  thankful. 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  I  canvassed  the  State  of  Illinois  to 
gether  for  three  or  more  months  in  1855.  Mr.  Lincoln 
drew  the  Prohibitory  Law.  The  Legislature  passed  it, 


156        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

submitting  it  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  We  came  near — 
we  did  carry  it,  but  Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  Wisconsin 
poured  in  nearly  20,000  illegal  votes  in  the  counties 
bordering  on  those  States,  and  then  with  those  illegal 
votes  counted,  beat  us  with  only  a  little  over  14,000 
votes.  Some  hard  cases  voted  with  us.  I  asked  Mr. 
Lincoln  if  we  wanted  such  votes. 

"Want  them?  Of  course  we  do.  I  have  lived  here 
many  years.  I  have  never  seen  saints  marching  in  bat 
talions  in  Illinois  yet.  First  the  blade,  then  the  ear, 
then  the  full  corn,  etc.  Work  with  any  and  all  who  will 
help  us,"  Mr.  Lincoln  said. 

"Welcome  one,  ten,  ten  thousand,"  Mr.  Lincoln  said 
in  his  plain,  pathetic  way.  "We  must  meet  the  traffic 
in  one  of  two  ways.  We  must  furnish  the  recruits  to 
keep  up  the  ever-increasing  army  of  drunkards  or  we 
must  take  temptation  out  of  the  way  of  the  rising  gen 
eration  by  prohibiting  it.  Which  way  do  you  prefer  to 
meet  the  traffic?" 

There  was  no  continued  bawl  for  money.  We  raised 
$25,000  in  a  few  days  in  Chicago.  William  B.  Ogden, 
president  of  the  C.  &  N.  W.  R.  R.,  sent  for  Mr.  Lincoln 
and.  said:  "Here  is  my  check  for  $2,500.  If  you  need 
more  I  will  duplicate  it  whenever  you  call."  Others 
gave  $500.  A  large  number  of  bankers  in  Chicago  gave 
$500.  So,  now,  if  the  case  is  plainly  stated,  as  Mr. 
Lincoln  put  it,  the  money  will  come — all  that  is  needed. 

I  am  enclosing  President  Lincoln's  "military  order" 
and  the  indorsement  of  Lieutenant-General  Winfield 
Scott. 

General  Scott  said:  "Shall  I  make  it  an  order  or  a 
request?" 

President  Lincoln  said:  "A  request  will  do,"  and 
it  did  do.  When  General  Scott  was  retired  Mr.  Lincoln 
fixed  it  so  I  could  and  should  go  when  and  where  he 
wanted  me  to  go. 

I  am  greatly  pleased  to  know  that  you  saw  Mr.  Lin- 


APPENDIX  F  157 

coin  the  day  he  was  assassinated  after  I  left.  I  started 
from  Washington  about  2:30  or  3  p.  M.  I  did  not  know 
that  he  was  intending  to  ride  over  to  the  Navy  Yard 
that  evening.  I  congratulate  you  upon  your  good  for 
tune  and  your  memory  of  him  must  be  a  precious  recol 
lection. 

Most  cordially  yours, 

(Signed)  J.  B.  MEBWIN. 


APPENDIX  G 

DR.  NATHAN  SMITH  DAVIS,  PIONEER 
TEMPERANCE  ADVOCATE 

NATHAN  SMITH  DAVIS  was  born  January  9,  1817, 
in  the  town  of  Greene,  Chenango  County,  New  York. 
In  January,  1837,  he  graduated  from  Fairfield  College 
with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  He  was  on  the 
faculty  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New 
York  city,  and  in  1849  accepted  the  chair  of  physiology 
and  pathology  at  Chicago  Rush  Medical  College,  holding 
the  chair  of  practical  medicine  at  the  college.  Dr.  Davis 
was  one  of  Chicago's  most  prominent  citizens.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  from  boyhood  and 
was  a  large  and  frequent  contributor  to  many  public 
and  private  charities.  Perhaps,  however,  the  doctor's 
prominent  characteristic  and  the  one  that  made  him  so 
potential  a  factor  for  good  was  his  persistent,  arduous, 
and  uncompromising  advocacy  of  temperance  and  his 
constant  assaults  upon  the  evils  of  strong  drink. 


158 


APPENDIX  H 

EX-SECRETARY   ROBERT   T.    LINCOLN'S   LETTER 
ABOUT  MERWIN 

1775  N  Street,  Washington,  D.  C. 

April  30,  1917. 
My  Dear  Mr.  White: 

My  acknowledgment  of  your  letter  of  April  20  has 
been  delayed  by  much  pressure  of  work;  I  am  glad  to 
have  it  with  its  inclosures. 

You  will  perhaps  be  surprised  to  know  that  I  never 
heard  of  James  B.  Merwin  until  a  few  months  ago  when 
some  one  wrote  me  in  regard  to  some  of  his  quotations 
of  my  father.  I  thereupon  obtained  a  book  I  had  not 
before  seen  called  Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  by 
the  Rev.  J.  T.  Hobson,  and  in  this  book  I  found  much 
mention  of  Mr.  Merwin,  and  I  must  confess  to  you  that 
I  was  dumfounded  to  know  that  my  father  had  a  friend 
who  claimed  such  intimacy  with  him  and  of  whom  I 
knew  nothing  whatever.  I  was  surprised,  too,  by  some 
of  his  statements  which  indicated  that  he  accompanied 
my  father  on  a  long  temperance  campaign  in  Illinois 
at  a  time  when  I  supposed  my  father  was  giving  all 
the  attention  he  could  possibly  take  away  from  his 
professional  work,  upon  which  depended  his  living, 
in  a  campaign  against  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise.  You  will  find  in  Nicolay  &  Hay 
reference  to  the  political  work,  but  none  to  the 
temperance  work  at  any  such  time.  You  may  think 
that  I  was  too  young  to  do  so,  but  I  very  well  remember 
that  political  campaign  of  my  father  and  even  drove  him 
to  a  number  of  meetings;  if  it  is  true,  as  I  believe 

159 


160         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

it  is,  that  I  never  heard  him  speak  of  Merwin,  it  is  at 
least  queer.  Then  as  to  his  dining  with  my  father  on 
the  day  of  his  death  I  can  only  say  this:  I  arrived 
from  Appomattox  on  the  morning  of  that  day  and  break 
fasted  with  my  father;  I  do  not  recall  anything  about 
luncheon,  but  I  dined  with  him  and  my  mother  in  the 
evening  of  that  day  and  I  simply  know  that  neither 
Mr.  Merwin  nor  any  other  guest  was  present  at  the 
dinner.  Perhaps  Mr.  Merwin  did  take  luncheon  with 
him  and  calls  it  dinner;  that  is  entirely  possible,  but  I 
know  nothing  of  it,  and  personally  I  have  my  doubts 
as  to  the  truth  of  the  statement.  That  was  a  very  busy  day 
at  the  White  House;  General  Grant  was  in  town  and 
conferred  with  my  father;  there  was  a  Cabinet  meeting, 
and  it  is  hard  to  make  me  believe  that  on  that  day  he 
discussed  with  Mr.  Merwin  a  plan  for  the  extension  and 
completion  of  the  Panama  Canal  by  means  of  the  labor 
of  the  freedmen,  and  plans  for  his  going  to  New  York 
to  secure  the  views  of  Horace  Greeley  and  others  on 
that  subject. 

The  sum  of  this  is  that  while  there  may  be  no  doubt 
of  Mr.  Merwin  having  done  something  in  the  cause  of 
temperance,  I  cannot  help  the  feeling  that  in  his  ac 
count  of  things  he  has  let  his  imagination  run  a  little 
wild. 

I  notice  you  speak  of  him  with  quotation  marks  as 
"Major"  Merwin.  In  the  inclosures  you  sent  me  he  is 
referred  to  by  General  Scott  as  "Mr."  Merwin  and  by 
my  father  in  the  same  way.  I  find  in  a  well-known  Army 
Register  that  he  was  appointed  by  the  President,  Hos 
pital  Chaplain  in  the  Volunteer  Service,  June  13,  1862, 
and  that  he  went  out  of  the  Service  August  21,  1865. 
I  do  not  think  that  Chaplains  had  the  rank  of  Major 
or  were  called  so. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  growth  of  inventions,  in  the 
book  of  Dr.  Hobson,  who  never  saw  my  father,  I  find  at 
page  53  the  following  statement: 


APPENDIX  H  161 

"Mr.  Lincoln  often  'preached'  what  he  called  his  'ser 
mon  to  boys/  as  follows:  'Don't  drink,  don't  gamble, 
don't  smoke,  don't  lie,  don't  cheat.  Love  your  fellow 
men,  love  God,  love  truth,  love  virtue,  and  be  happy.' " 

In  the  inquiry  made  of  me  of  which  I  wrote  above,  a 
later  author  improved  this  invention  of  Dr.  Hobson's 
as  follows: 

"The  Hon.  Robert  T.  Lincoln  has  stated  that  his 
father  never  used  liquor  or  tobacco  in  any  form,  and 
quotes  the  following  sermon,  as  he  calls  it,  which  he 
preached  to  his  boys:  'Don't  drink,  don't  smoke,  don't 
chew,  don't  swear,  don't  gamble,  don't  lie,  don't  cheat. 
Love  your  fellow  men  and  love  God.  Love  truth,  love 
virtue  and  be  happy.' " 

I  never  made  the  statement  nor  heard  of  it  until  I 
saw  it  as  indicated. 

Very  truly  yours, 

ROBEBT  T.  LINCOLN. 

Hon.  Charles  T.  White. 


APPENDIX  I 
LINCOLN  AND   A   PANAMA    CANAL 

ON  account  of  the  fact  that  President  Lincoln,  accord 
ing  to  the  narrative  of  James  B.  Merwin,  had  in  mind 
the  employment  of  Civil  War  colored  soldiers  for  the 
construction  of  a  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
explicit  treatment  of  that  fact  would  seem  to  be  fully 
warranted. 

Merwin  says  that  on  the  very  afternoon  preceding  the 
assassination  of  the  President  he  was  privately  com 
missioned  by  the  President  to  see  Col.  A.  K.  McClure, 
of  the  Philadelphia  Times,  and  Horace  Greeley,  of  the 
New  York  Tribune,  concerning  the  feasibility  of  a  plan 
by  General  Benjamin  F.  Butler  for  the  construction  of 
a  Panama  Canal,  the  manual  labor  to  be  performed 
mainly  by  the  colored  soldiers.  Mr.  Merwin  in  a  sense 
connects  Lincoln's  uncontroverted  statement  concerning 
his  hope  for  the  abolition  of  the  drink  evil  with  this 
mission  by  Merwin  to  McClure  and  Greeley  relating 
to  the  Butler  canal  plan. 

Lincoln  writers  have  not  accorded  to  this  fact  the 
weight  which  its  importance  warrants.  According  to 
General  Butler's  own  narrative,  President  Lincoln  was 
very  much  concerned,  following  the  surrender  of  Lee 
and  his  visit  to  Richmond,  over  the  possibility  of  trouble 
between  the  white  and  black  races  after  the  colored 
soldiers  had  been  mustered  out  of  the  army.  General 
Butler  says  that  President  Lincoln  sent  for  him,  and 
said: 

"General  Butler,  I  am  troubled  about  the  Negroes. 
We  are  soon  to  have  peace.  We  have  got  some  one 
hundred  and  odd  thousand  Negroes  who  have  been 

1G2 


APPENDIX  I  163 

trained  to  arms.  When  peace  shall  come  I  fear  lest 
these  colored  men  shall  organize  themselves  in  the 
South,  especially  in  the  States  where  the  Negroes  are  in 
preponderance  in  numbers,  into  guerilla  parties,  and  we 
shall  have  down  there  a  warfare  between  the  whites  and 
the  Negroes.  In  the  course  of  the  reconstruction  of  the 
government  it  will  become  a  question  of  how  the  Negro 
is  to  be  disposed  of.  Would  it  not  be  possible  to  export 
them  to  some  place,  say  Liberia  or  South  America,  and 
organize  them  into  communities  to  support  themselves? 
Now,  General,  I  wish  you  would  examine  the  practica 
bility  of  such  exportation.  Your  organization  of  the 
flotilla  which  carried  your  army  from  Yorktown  and 
Port  Monroe  to  City  Point,  and  its  success,  show  that 
you  understand  such  matters.  Will  you  give  this  your 
attention,  and  at  as  early  a  date  as  possible,  report  to 
me  your  views  upon  the  subject?" 

General  Butler  after  a  few  days  of  preparation  called 
on  President  Lincoln  and  after  an  extended  conversation 
convinced  him  that  the  exportation  idea  was  entirely 
impracticable,  one  paragraph  of  his  report  suggesting 
that  Negro  children  would  be  born  faster  than  the  gov 
ernment's  whole  naval  and  merchant  vessels,  if  all  of 
them  were  devoted  to  that  use,  could  carry  them  from 
the  country. 

President  Lincoln  said  that  Butler's  deductions 
seemed  to  be  correct;  Butler  then  brought  forward  his 
canal  suggestion: 

"We  have,"  said  he,  "large  quantities  of  clothing  to 
clothe  them,  large  quantities  of  provision  with  which 
to  supply  them,  and  arms  and  everything  necessary  for 
them,  even  to  spades  and  shovels,  mules  and  wagons.  I 
know  of  a  concession  of  the  United  States  of  Colombia's 
for  a  tract  of  thirty  miles  wide  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  for  opening  a  ship  canal.  The  enlistments  of 
the  Negroes  have  all  of  them  from  two  to  three  years  to 
run.  Why  not  send  them  all  down  there  to  dig  the 


164         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

canal?  They  will  withstand  the  climate,  and  the  work 
can  be  done  with  less  cost  to  the  United  States  in  that 
way  than  in  any  other.  If  you  choose,  I  will  take  com 
mand  of  the  expedition.  Shall  I  work  out  the  details 
of  such  an  expedition  for  you,  Mr.  President?" 

President  Lincoln,  after  reflecting  for  some  time,  said: 

"There  is  meat  in  that  suggestion,  General  Butler, 
there  is  meat  in  that  suggestion.  Go  and  talk  to  Seward, 
and  see  what  foreign  complication  there  will  be  about 
it.  Then  think  it  over,  get  your  figures  made  and  come 
to  me  again  as  soon  as  you  can." 

General  Butler  called  upon  Secretary  of  State  Seward 
and  explained  in  a  few  words  what  the  President 
wanted.  Seward  said: 

"Yes,  General,  I  know  that  the  President  is  greatly 
worried  upon  this  subject.  He  has  spoken  to  me  of  it 
frequently,  and  yours  may  be  a  solution  of  it;  but  to-day 
is  my  mail  day.  I  am  very  much  driven  with  what  must 
be  done  to-day;  but  I  dine,  as  you  know,  at  six  o'clock. 
Come  and  take  a  family  dinner  with  me,  and  afterward, 
over  an  indifferent  cigar,  we  will  talk  this  matter  over 
fully." 

That  evening  Secretary  Seward  in  his  drive  before 
dinner  was  thrown  from  his  carriage  and  severely  in 
jured,  his  jaw  being  broken,  and  he  was  confined  to  his 
bed  until  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  and  the  at 
tempted  murder  of  himself  by  one  of  the  confederates  of 
Booth,  so  that  the  subject  was  not  again  brought  to 
President  Lincoln  by  General  Butler  or  Secretary 
Seward. 

But  the  President,  with  characteristic  tenacity  of  pur 
pose,  followed  up  the  matter  by  directing  Merwin  to' 
confer  with  McClure  and  Greeley  about  the  feasibility 
of  the  scheme,  with  the  result  as  stated  elsewhere  by 
Merwin  in  his  own  narrative. 


APPENDIX  J 

TEXT  OP  MAINE  PROHIBITION  LAW 
(ADOPTED  1851) 

An  Act  for  the   Suppression  of  Drinking  Houses  and 

Tippling  Shops. 

SECTION  1.  No  person  shall  be  allowed  at  any  time, 
to  manufacture  or  sell,  by  himself,  his  clerk,  servant  or 
agent,  directly  or  indirectly,  any  spirituous  intoxicating 
liquors,  or  any  mixed  liquors,  a  part  of  which  is  spirit 
uous  or  intoxicating,  except  as  hereafter  provided. 

SEC.  2.  The  selectmen  of  any  town,  and  mayor  and 
aldermen  of  any  city,  on  the  first  Monday  of  May,  an 
nually,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as  may  be  convenient,  may 
appoint  some  suitable  person  as  the  agent  of  said  town 
or  city,  to  sell  at  some  central  or  convenient  place 
within  said  town  or  city,  spirits,  wine,  or  any  other  in 
toxicating  liquor,  to  be  used  for  medicinal  and  mechani 
cal  purposes,  and  no  other;  and  said  agent  shall  re 
ceive  such  compensation  for  his  services  as  the  board  ap 
pointing  him  shall  prescribe;  and  shall  in  the  sale  of 
such  liquors  conform  to  such  rules  and  regulation,  as  the 
selectmen,  or  mayor  and  aldermen  as  aforesaid  shall 
prescribe  for  that  purpose.  And  such  agent  appointed  as 
aforesaid  shall  hold  his  situation  for  one  year,  unless 
sooner  removed  by  the  board  from  which  he  received 
his  appointment,  as  he  may  be  at  any  time  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  board. 

SEC.  3.  Such  agent  shall  receive  a  certificate  from 
the  mayor,  and  aldermen  or  selectmen  by  whom  he  has 
been  appointed,  authorizing  him  as  the  agent  of  such 
town  or  city,  to  sell  intoxicating  liquors  for  medicinal 
and  mechanical  purposes;  but  such  certificate  shall  not 

165 


166         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

be  delivered  to  the  person  so  appointed  until  he  shall 
have  executed  and  delivered  to  said  board  a  bond  with 
two  good  and  sufficient  sureties  in  the  sum  of  $600  in 
substance  as  follows: 

Know  All  Men  that  we, as  principal,  and 

and  as  sureties,  are  holden  and  stand  firmly 

bound  to  the  inhabitants  of in  (or  city,  as  the 

case  may  be)  in  the  sum  of  $600  to  be  paid  them,  to 
which  payment  we  bind  ourselves,  our  heirs,  executors, 
and  administrators,  firmly  by  these  presents. 

Sealed  with  our  seal,  and  dated  this  day  of 

A.  D. 

The  condition  of  this  obligation  is  such,  that  whereas, 

the  above  bounden  has  been  duly  appointed  as 

agent  for  the  town  (or  city)  of  ,  to  sell  within 

and  for  and  on  account  of  said  town  (or  city)  intoxi 
cating  liquors  for  medicinal  and  mechanical  purposes, 

and  no  other,  until  the  of  A.  D.,  unless 

sooner  removed  from  said  agency. 

Now  if  the  said  — shall  in  all  respects  conform  to 

all  the  provisions  of  the  law  relating  to  the  business  for 
which  he  is  appointed,  and  to  such  rules  and  regulations 
as  now  are  or  shall  be  from  time  to  time  established  by 
the  board  making  the  appointment,  then  this  obligation 
to  be  void;  otherwise  to  remain  in  full  force. 

SEC.  4.  If  any  person,  by  himself,  clerk,  servant,  or 
agent,  shall  at  any  time  sell  any  spirituous  or  intoxi 
cating  liquors,  or  any  mixed  liquors,  part  of  which  is 
intoxicating,  in  violation  of  the  provision  of  this  act, 
he  shall  forfeit  and  pay  on  the  first  conviction  ten  dol 
lars  and  the  cost  of  prosecution  and  shall  stand  com 
mitted  until  the  same  be  paid;  on  the  second  conviction 
he  shall  pay  twenty  dollars,  and  the  cost  of  prosecution, 
and  shall  stand  or  be  committed  until  the  same  be  paid; 
on  the  third  and  every  subsequent  conviction  he  shall 
pay  twenty  dollars  and  the  costs  of  prosecution  and 
shall  be  imprisoned  in  the  common  jail  not  less  than 


APPENDIX  J  167 

three  months,  nor  more  than  six  months,  and  in  default 
of  the  payment  of  the  fine  and  costs  prescribed  by  this 
section  for  the  first  and  second  convictions,  the  convict 
shall  not  be  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  Chapter  175  of  the 
Revised  Statutes  until  he  shall  have  been  imprisoned 
two  months;  and  in  default  of  payment  of  fines  and 
costs  provided  for  the  third  and  every  subsequent  con 
viction,  he  shall  not  be  entitled  to  the  benefits  of  said 
Chapter  175  of  the  Revised  Statutes  until  he  shall  have 
been  imprisoned  four  months.  And  if  any  clerk,  serv 
ant,  agent,  or  other  persons  in  the  employment  or  on 
the  premises  of  another  shall  violate  the  provisions  of 
this  section,  he  shall  be  held  equally  guilty  with  the 
principal  and  on  conviction  shall  suffer  the  same  penalty. 

SEC.  5.  Any  forfeiture  or  penalty  arising  under  the 
above  section  may  be  recovered  by  an  action  of  debt  or 
by  complaint  before  any  justice  of  the  peace,  or  judge 
of  any  municipal  or  police  court,  in  the  county  where 
the  offense  was  committed,  and  the  forfeiture  so  re 
covered  shall  go  to  the  town  where  the  convicted  party 
resides  for  the  use  of  the  poor;  and  the  prosecutor,  or 
complainant,  may  be  admitted  as  a  witness  in  the  trial. 
And  if  anyone  of  the  selectmen,  or  board  of  mayor  and 
aldermen  shall  approve  of  the  commencement  of  any 
such  suit,  by  indorsing  his  name  upon  the  writ,  the 
defendant  shall  in  no  event  recover  any  costs;  and  in 
all  actions  of  debt  arising  under  this  section,  the  fines 
and  forfeitures  suffered  by  the  defendant,  shall  be  the 
same  as  if  the  action  had  been  by  complaint.  And  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  any  city, 
and  selectmen  of  any  town,  to  commence  an  action  in 
behalf  of  said  town  or  city  against  any  person  guilty  of 
a  violation  of  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  on  being 
informed  of  the  same,  and  being  furnished  with  proof 
of  the  fact. 

SEC.  6.  If  any  person  shall  claim  an  appeal  from  a 
judgment  rendered  against  him  by  any  judge  or  justice, 


168         LINCOLN  AND  PBOHIBITION 

on  trial  of  such  action  or  complaint,  he  shall,  before  the 
appeal  shall  be  allowed,  recognize  in  the  sum  of  one 
hundred  dollars,  with  two  good  and  sufficient  sureties, 
in  every  case  so  appealed,  to  prosecute  his  appeal,  and 
to  pay  all  costs,  fines  and  penalties  that  may  be  awarded 
against  him,  upon  a  final  disposition  of  such  suit  or 
complaint.  And  before  his  appeal  shall  be  allowed  he 
shall  also,  in  every  case,  give  a  bond,  with  two  other 
good  and  sufficient  sureties,  running  to  the  town  or  city 
where  the  offense  was  committed,  in  the  sum  of  two 
hundred  dollars,  that  he  will  not,  during  the  pendency 
of  such  appeal,  violate  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act. 
And  no  recognizance,  or  bond,  shall  be  taken  in  cases 
arising  under  this  act  except  by  the  justices  or  judges 
before  whom  the  trial  was  had;  and  the  defendant  shall 
be  held  to  advance  the  jury  fees  in  every  case  of  appeal 
in  an  action  of  debt;  and  in  the  event  of  a  final  convic 
tion  before  a  jury,  the  defendant  shall  pay  and  suffer 
double  the  amount  of  fines,  penalties,  and  imprisonment 
awarded  against  him  by  the  justice  or  judge  from  whose 
judgment  the  appeal  was  made.  The  forfeiture  of  all 
bonds  and  recognizances  given  in  pursuance  of  this  act 
shall  go  to  the  town  or  city  where  the  offense  was  com 
mitted  for  the  use  of  the  poor;  and  if  the  recognizances 
and  bonds  mentioned  in  this  section  shall  not  be  given 
within  twenty-four  hours  after  the  judgment,  the  appeal 
shall  not  be  allowed;  the  defendant  in  the  meantime  to 
stand  committed. 

SEC.  7.  The  mayor  and  aldermen  of  any  city,  and  the 
selectmen  of  any  town,  whenever  complaint  shall  be 
made  to  them  that  a  breach  of  the  conditions  of  the 
bond  given  by  any  person  appointed  under  this  act  has 
been  committed,  shall  notify  the  person  complained  of, 
and  if  upon  a  hearing  of  the  parties  it  shall  appear  that 
any  breach  has  been  committed,  they  shall  revoke  and 
make  void  his  appointment.  And  whenever  a  breach  of 
any  bond  given  to  the  inhabitants  of  any  city  or  town, 


APPENDIX  J  169 

in  pursuance  of  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall 
be  made  known  to  the  mayor  and  aldermen,  or  select 
men,  or  shall  in  any  manner  come  to  their  knowledge, 
they,  or  some  one  of  them,  shall,  at  the  expense  and  for 
the  use  of  said  city  or  town,  cause  the  bond  to  be  put 
in  suit  in  any  court  proper  to  try  the  same. 

SEC.  8.  No  person  shall  be  allowed  to  be  a  manufac 
turer  of  any  spirituous  or  intoxicating  liquor,  or  com 
mon  seller  thereof,  without  being  duly  appointed  as 
aforesaid,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  on  the  first  conviction 
the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars  and  costs  of  prosecution, 
and  in  default  of  the  payment  thereof  the  person  so  con 
victed  shall  be  imprisoned  in  the  common  jail  sixty 
days;  and  on  the  second  conviction  the  person  so  con 
victed  to  pay  the  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars  and  the 
costs  of  prosecution,  and  in  default  of  payment  shall  be 
imprisoned  four  months  in  the  common  Jail;  and  on  the 
third  and  every  subsequent  conviction  shall  pay  the 
sum  of  two  hundred  dollars  and  be  imprisoned  four 
months  in  the  common  jail  of  the  county  where  the  of 
fense  was  committed;  said  penalties  to  be  recovered 
before  any  court  of  competent  jurisdiction,  by  indict 
ment,  or  by  action  of  debt  in  the  name  of  the  city  or 
town  where  the  offense  shall  be  committed.  And  when 
ever  a  default  shall  be  had  of  any  recognizance  arising 
under  this  act,  scire  facias  shall  be  issued,  returnable  at 
the  next  term,  and  the  same  shall  not  be  continued,  un 
less  for  good  cause,  satisfactory  to  the  court. 

SEC.  9.  No  person  engaged  in  the  unlawful  traffic  in 
intoxicating  liquors  shall  be  competent  to  sit  upon  any 
jury  in  any  case  arising  under  this  act;  and  when  in 
formation  shall  be  communicated  to  the  court  that  any 
member  of  any  panel  is  engaged  in  such  traffic,  or  that 
he  is  believed  to  be  so  engaged,  the  court  shall  inquire 
of  the  jurymen  of  whom  such  belief  is  entertained;  and 
no  answer  which  he  shall  make  shall  be  used  against 
him  in  any  case  arising  under  this  act;  but  if  he  shall 


170         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

answer  falsely,  he  shall  be  incapable  of  serving  on  any 
jury  in  this  State,  but  he  may  decline  to  answer,  in 
which  case  he  shall  be  discharged  by  the  court  from  all 
further  attendance  as  a  juryman. 

SEC.  10.  All  cases  arising  under  this  act,  whether  by 
action,  indictment,  or  complaint,  which  shall  come  be 
fore  a  superior  court,  either  by  appeal  or  original  entry, 
shall  take  precedence  in  said  court  of  all  other  busi 
ness,  except  those  criminal  cases  in  which  the  parties 
are  under  arrest  awaiting  a  trial;  and  the  court,  and 
prosecuting  officers  shall  not  have  authority  to  enter 
a  nolle  prosequi,  or  to  grant  a  continuance  in  any  case 
arising  under  this  act  either  before  or  after  the  verdict, 
except  where  the  purposes  of  justice  shall  require  it. 

SEC.  11.  If  any  three  persons  voters  in  the  town  or 
city  where  the  complaint  shall  be  made  shall,  before 
any  justice  of  the  peace,  or  judge  of  any  municipal  or 
police  court,  make  complaint  under  oath  or  affirmation, 
that  they  have  reason  to  believe,  and  /lo  believe,  that 
spirituous  or  intoxicating  liquors  are  kept  or  deposited, 
and  intended  for  sale  by  any  persons  not  authorized  to 
sell  the  same  in  said  city  or  town  under  the  provisions 
of  this  act,  in  any  store,  shop,  warehouse,  or  other 
building  or  place,  in  said  city  or  town,  said  justice  or 
judge  shall  issue  his  warrant  of  search  to  any  sheriff, 
city  marshal,  or  deputy,  or  to  any  constable,  who  shall 
proceed  to  search  the  premises  described  in  said  war 
rant,  and  if  any  spirituous  or  intoxicating  liquors  are 
found  therein,  he  shall  seize  the  same,  and  convey  them 
to  some  proper  place  of  security,  where  he  shall  keep 
them  until  final  action  is  had  thereon.  But  no  dwelling 
house  in  which,  or  in  part  of  which,  a  shop  is  not  kept, 
shall  be  searched  unless  at  least  one  of  said  complain 
ants  shall  testify  to  some  act  of  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors  therein,  by  the  occupant  thereof,  or  by  his  con 
sent  or  permission,  within  at  least  one  month  of  the  time 
of  making  said  complaint.  And  the  owner  or  keeper  of 


APPENDIX  J  171 

said  liquors,  seized  as  aforesaid,  if  he  shall  be  known  to 
the  officer  seizing  the  same,  shall  be  summoned  forthwith 
before  the  justice  or  judge  by  whose  warrant  the  liquors 
were  seized,  and  if  he  fails  to  appear,  or  unless  he  can 
show  by  positive  proof  that  said  liquors  are  of  foreign 
production,  that  they  have  been  imported  under  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  and  in  accordance  therewith, 
that  they  are  contained  in  the  original  packages  in  which 
they  were  imported,  and  in  quantities  not  less  than  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  prescribe,  they  shall  be  de 
clared  forfeited,  and  they  shall  be  destroyed  by  authority 
of  the  written  order  to  that  effect  of  said  justice  or 
judge  and  in  his  presence,  or  in  the  presence  of  some 
person  appointed  by  him  to  witness  the  destruction 
thereof,  and  who  shall  join  with  the  officer  by  whom 
they  shall  have  been  destroyed  in  attesting  that  fact 
upon  the  back  of  the  order  by  authority  of  which  it 
was  done;  and  the  owner  or  keeper  of  such  liquors 
shall  pay  a  fine  of  twenty  dollars  and  costs,  or  stand 
committed  for  thirty  days,  in  default  of  payment,  if  in 
the  opinion  of  the  court  said  liquors  shall  have  been 
kept  or  deposited  for  the  purposes  of  sale.  And  if  the 
owner  or  possessor  of  any  liquors  seized  in  pursuance 
of  this  section  shall  set  up  the  claim  that  they  have 
been  regularly  imported  under  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  and  that  they  are  contained  in  the  original  pack 
ages,  the  customhouse's  certificates  of  importation  and 
proofs  of  marks  on  the  casks  or  packages  corresponding 
thereto  shall  be  received  as  evidence  that  the  liquors 
contained  in  such  packages  are  those  actually  imported 
therein. 

SEC.  12.  If  the  owner,  keeper,  or  possessor  of  liquors 
seized  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  unknown 
to  the  officer  seizing  the  same,  they  shall  not  be  con 
demned  and  be  destroyed  until  they  shall  have  been 
advertised,  with  the  number  and  description  of  the  pack 
ages,  as  near  as  may  be,  for  two  weeks,  by  posting  up  a 


172         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

written  description  of  the  same  in  some  public  place 
that  if  such  liquors  are  actually  the  property  of  any 
city  or  town  in  the  State,  and  were  so  at  the  time  of  the 
seizure,  purchased  for  sale  by  the  agent  of  said  city  or 
town,  for  medicinal  or  mechanical  purposes,  only,  in 
pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  they  may  not 
be  destroyed;  but  upon  satisfactory  proof  of  such  owner 
ship  within  said  two  weeks  before  the  justice  or  judge 
by  whose  authority  said  liquors  were  seized,  said  justice 
or  judge  shall  deliver  to  the  agent  of  said  city  or  town, 
an  order  to  the  officer  having  said  liquors  in  custody, 
whereupon  said  officer  shall  deliver  them  to  said  agent, 
taking  his  receipt  therefor  upon  the  back  of  said  order, 
which  shall  be  returned  to  said  justice  or  judge. 

SEC.  13.  If  any  person  claiming  any  liquors  seized  as 
aforesaid  shall  appeal  from  the  judgment  of  any  justice 
or  judge  by  whose  authority  the  seizure  was  made,  to 
the  district  court,  before  his  appeal  shall  be  allowed,  he 
shall  give  a  bond  in  the  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars, 
with  two  good  and  sufficient  sureties  to  prosecute  his 
appeal,  and  to  pay  all  fines  and  costs  which  may  be 
awarded  against  him;  and  in  the  case  of  any  such  ap 
peal,  where  the  quantity  of  liquors  so  seized  shall  ex 
ceed  five  gallons,  if  the  final  decision  shall  be  against 
the  appellant  that  such  liquors  were  intended  for  him 
by  sale,  he  shall  be  adjudged  by  the  court  a  common 
seller  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  shall  be  subject  of  the 
penalties  provided  for  in  section  eight  of  this  act;  and 
said  liquors  shall  be  destroyed  as  provided  for  in  sec 
tion  eleven,  but  nothing  contained  in  this  act  shall  be 
construed  to  prevent  any  chemist,  artist,  or  manu 
facturer,  in  whose  art  or  trade  they  may  be  necessary, 
from  keeping  at  his  place  of  business  such  reasonable 
and  proper  quantities  of  distilled  liquors  as  he  may  have 
occasion  to  use  in  his  art  or  trade,  but  not  for  sale. 

SEC.  14.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  any  mayor,  alderman, 
selectman,  assessor,  city  marshal,  or  deputy  or  con- 


APPENDIX  J  173 

stable,  if  he  shall  have  information  that  any  intoxicating 
liquors  are  kept  or  sold  in  any  tent,  shanty,  hut  or  place 
of  any  kind  for  selling  refreshments  in  any  public  place, 
on  or  near  the  ground  of  any  cattle  show,  agricultural 
exhibition,  military  muster,  or  public  occasion  of  any 
kind,  to  search  such  suspected  place,  and  if  such  officer 
shall  find  upon  the  premises,  any  intoxicating  drinks, 
he  shall  seize  them  and  arrest  the  keeper  or  keepers  of 
such  place,  and  take  them  forthwith,  or  as  soon  as  may 
be,  before  some  justice  or  judge  or  municipal  or  police 
court,  with  the  liquors  so  found  or  seized,  and  upon 
proof  that  such  liquors  are  intoxicating,  that  they 
were  found  in  the  possession  of  the  accused,  in  a  tent, 
shanty,  or  other  place  as  aforesaid,  he  or  they  shall  be 
sentenced  to  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  for  thirty 
days,  and  the  liquor  so  seized  shall  be  destroyed  by  order 
of  said  justice  or  judge. 

SEC.  15.  If  any  person  arrested  under  the  preceding 
section,  and  sentenced  as  aforesaid,  shall  claim  an  ap 
peal,  before  his  appeal  shall  be  allowed,  he  shall  give  a 
bond  in  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars,  with  two  good 
and  sufficient  sureties,  that  he  will  prosecute  his  appeal 
and  pay  all  fines,  costs,  and  penalties  that  may  be 
awarded  against  him.  And  if  on  such  appeal  the  verdict 
of  the  jury  shall  be  against  him,  he  shall  in  addition  to 
the  penalty  awarded  by  the  lower  court,  pay  a  fine  of 
twenty  dollars.  In  all  cases  of  appeal  under  this  act 
from  the  judgment  of  a  justice  or  of  a  judge  of  any 
municipal  or  police  court  to  the  district  court,  except 
where  the  proceeding  is  by  action  of  debt,  they  shall 
be  conducted  in  said  district  court  by  the  prosecuting 
officer  of  the  government,  and  said  officer  shall  be  en 
titled  to  receive  all  costs  taxable  to  the  State,  in  all 
criminal  proceedings  under  this  act,  in  addition  to  the 
salary  allowed  to  such  officer  by  law,  but  no  costs  in 
such  cases  shall  be  remitted  or  reduced  by  the  prose 
cuting  officer  or  the  court.  In  any  suit,  complaint,  in- 


174         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

dictment,  or  other  proceeding  against  any  person  for  a 
violation  of  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  other  than 
for  the  first  offense,  it  shall  not  be  requisite  to  set  forth 
particularly  the  record  of  a  former  conviction,  but  it 
shall  be  sufficient  to  allege  briefly  that  such  person  has 
been  convicted  of  a  violation  of  the  fourth  section  of 
this  act,  or  as  a  common  seller  as  the  case  may  be,  and 
such  allegation  in  any  civil  or  criminal  process,  in  any 
stage  of  the  proceeding,  before  final  judgment,  may  be 
amended  without  terms  and  as  a  matter  of  right. 

SEC.  16.  All  payments  or  compensations  for  liquor 
sold  in  violation  of  law,  whether  in  money,  labor,  or 
other  property,  either  real  or  personal,  shall  be  held  and 
considered  to  have  been  received  to  have  been  in  viola 
tion  of  law,  and  without  consideration,  and  against  law, 
equity,  and  a  good  conscience,  and  all  sales,  transfers, 
and  conveyances,  mortgages,  liens,  attachments,  pledges 
and  securities  of  every  kind  which  either  in  whole  or  in 
part  shall  have  been  for  or  on  account  of  spirituous  or 
intoxicating  liquors,  shall  be  utterly  null  and  void 
against  all  persons  and  in  all  cases,  and  no  rights  of  any 
kind  shall  be  acquired  thereby;  and  in  any  action,  either 
at  law,  or  equity,  touching  such  real  or  personal  estate, 
the  purchaser  of  such  liquors  may  be  a  witness  for  either 
party.  And  no  action  of  any  kind  shall  be  maintained 
in  any  court  in  this  State,  either  in  whole  or  in  part, 
for  intoxicating  or  spirituous  liquors  sold  in  any  other 
State  or  country  whatever,  nor  shall  any  action  of  any 
kind  be  had  or  maintained  in  any  court  of  this  State, 
for  the  recovery  or  possession  of  intoxicating  or  spirit 
uous  liquors,  or  the  value  thereof. 

SEC.  17.  All  the  provisions  of  this  act,  relating  to 
towns,  shall  be  applicable  to  cities  and  plantations;  and 
those  relating  to  selectmen  shall  also  be  applied  to  the 
mayor  and  aldermen  of  cities  and  assessors  of  planta 
tions. 

SEC.  18.    The  act  entitled  An  Act  to  Restrict  the  Sale 


APPENDIX  J  175 

of  Intoxicating  Drinks,  approved  August  sixth,  1846,  is 
hereby  repealed,  except  the  thirteen  sections  from  Sec 
tion  10  to  Section  22  inclusive,  saving  and  reserving  all 
actions  or  other  proceedings,  which  are  already  com 
menced  by  authority  of  the  same;  and  all  other  acts, 
and  parts  of  acts,  inconsistent  with  this  act  are  hereby 
repealed.  This  act  to  take  effect  from  and  after  its  ap 
proval  by  the  governor. 


APPENDIX  K 


Sale  of 
intoxicating 
liquors 
prohibited 


Not  to  extend 
to  cider  and 
wine  manufac 
tured  in  the 
State 


THE      ILLINOIS      1855      PROHIBITION 

LAW    FRAMED    BY    ABRAHAM 

LINCOLN 

AN  ACT  for  the  suppression  of  intem 
perance,  and  to  amend  Chapter  30  of  the 
Revised  Statutes 

SECTION  1.  Be  it  enacted  "by  the  people 
of  the  State  of  Illinois,  represented  in  the 
General  Assembly,  That  no  person  shall,  at 
any  time  or  place,  within  this  State,  manu 
facture  or  sell,  or  shall,  at  any  store, 
grocery,  tavern,  or  place  of  trade,  enter 
tainment  or  public  resort,  or  railroad  or 
canal,  or  in  any  of  the  appurtenances  or 
dependencies  of  any  such  place,  give  away, 
contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  by 
himself,  his  servant  or  agent,  directly  or 
indirectly,  any  spiritous  or  intoxicating 
liquor,  or  any  mixed  liquor,  of  which  a  part 
is  spiritous  or  intoxicating,  except  as  here 
inafter  provided;  and  ale,  porter,  lager 
beer,  cider,  and  all  wines,  are  included 
among  intoxicating  liquors  within  the 
meaning  of  this  act. 

S.  2.  Nothing  contained  in  this  act  shall 
be  construed  to  forbid  the  making  of  cider 
from  apples,  or  wine  from  grapes,  currants, 
or  other  fruit  grown  or  gathered  by  the 
manufacturer,  in  this  State,  or  the  selling 
of  such  cider  or  wine,  in  quantities  not 
less  than  one  gallon,  if  made  in  this  State, 
by  the  maker  thereof;  nor  shall  anything 

176 


APPENDIX  K 


177 


herein  prohibit  the  brewing  of  ale,  porter, 
or  lager  beer,  if  manufactured  in  this  State, 
and  exported  and  sold  in  not  less  quantities 
than  thirty  gallons,  without  the  limits  of 
the  same;  and  the  person  or  persons  manu 
facturing  or  selling  such  ale,  porter,  or 
lager  beer  shall  have  first  given  bond  as 
required  by  the  third  section  of  this  act  of 
persons  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of 
alcohol  or  high  wines;  and  any  other 
manufacture  or  sale  of  such  wine,  cider, 
ale,  porter,  or  lager  beer  shall  be  deemed 
an  unlawful  (sale)  within  the  meaning  of 
this  act. 

S.  3.    Nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  con-   Not  to  extend 
strued  to  forbid  the  sale,  by  the  importer   to  imported 
thereof,  of  foreign  spiritous  or  intoxicating 
liquors,   imported  under   the   authority   of 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  regarding  the   than  so 
importation  of  such  liquor,  and  in  accord-   gallons 
ance    with     said     laws:     Provided,     that   Proviso 
the  said  liquor,  at  the  time  of  sale  by  said 
importer,  remains  in  the  original  casks  or 
packages  in  which  it  was  by  him  imported, 
and  in  quantities  in  which  the  laws  of  the 
United   States   require   such   liquor   to  be 
imported,  and  is  sold  by  him  in  said  casks 
or  packages,  and  in  said  quantities  only; 
and  the  customhouse  certificate  of  importa 
tion,  and  proof  of  marks  on  the  casks  or 
packages  in  which  such  liquor  is  contained, 
corresponding  thereto,  shall  not  be  received 
as  evidence  that  the  liquor  contained  in 
such   packages   is   that   actually   imported 
therein:  Provided,  that  nothing  in  this  act   Proviso 
contained  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  the 
manufacture  of  alcohol  and  high  wines,  if 


178         LINCOLN  AND  PKOHIB1TION 


License  when 
and  by  whom 
granted  to 
manufacturers 


Licensed 
persons 
to  give 
bond 


not  adapted  to  use  as  a  beverage,  provided 
the  same  be  exported  out  of  this  State  in 
quantities  not  less  than  thirty  gallons.  No 
license  shall  be  required  to  manufacture 
such  liquor  for  exportation  and  sale  as 
aforesaid,  but  such  manufacturer  shall  be 
required  to  give  bond  as  provided  in  case 
of  other  manufacturers,  so  far  as  applic 
able. 

S.  4.  The  county  court  of  any  county, 
or  in  counties  having  township  organiza 
tion,  the  board  of  supervisors  may,  by  cer 
tificates  signed  by  two  thirds  of  the  judges, 
or  by  two  thirds  of  the  boards  of  super 
visors,  give  all  persons  who  shall,  in  writ 
ing,  apply  to  them  therefor,  authority  to 
manufacture,  at  such  places  only  within 
said  county  as  said  court  or  board  of 
supervisors  shall,  in  said  certificate,  desig 
nate,  spiritous  or  intoxicating  liquors,  and 
to  sell  the  same  in  those  places  only,  to 
duly  authorized  agents  of  cities,  towns,  and 
counties  in  this  State;  but  such  authority 
shall  not  continue,  in  any  case,  longer  than 
one  year  from  the  date  of  the  certificate 
in  that  case  given,  and  may  be  at  any  time 
revoked  by  said  court  or  board  of  super 
visors;  and  no  person  shall  receive  such 
a  certificate,  or  exercise  such  authority 
until  he  shall  have  executed  and  delivered 
to  the  treasurer  of  said  county  a  bond,  with 
at  least  two  good  and  sufficient  sureties,  in 
a  sum  not  less  than  one  thousand  dollars 
nor  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars,  as 
said  county  court  or  board  of  supervisors 
shall  require,  conditioned  that  he  will  not, 
at  any  time  during  the  year  next  following 


APPENDIX  K 


179 


the  date  of  his  said  certificate,  infringe  in 
any  manner  or  degree  any  provision  of  this 
or  any  law  of  this  State  touching  the  manu 
facture  or  sale  of  spiritous  or  intoxicating 
liquors.  If  any  person  so  authorized  and 
bound  shall  break  the  condition  of  sucb 
bond,  said  bond  shall  forthwith  be  put  in 
suit;  his  said  certificate  and  authority  shall 
instantly  become  void,  and  he  shall  not 
thereafter  be  permitted  to  manufacture  or 
sell  any  spiritous  or  intoxicating  liquor, 
and  shall,  moreover,  be  subject  to  all  the 
penalties  herein  provided  against  the 
manufacture,  sale,  or  giving  away  spiritous 
or  intoxicating  liquors  contrary  to  the  pro 
visions  of  this  act.  The  county  court  or 
board  of  supervisors  shall  not  have  the 
power  to  grant  such  authority  to  manufac 
ture  liquor  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  with 
in  the  limits  of  any  incorporated  town  or 
city  in  this  State;  but  such  authority  may 
be  granted  and  certificates  issued  by  the 
common  council  of  said  city  or  the  presi 
dent  and  trustees  of  said  town,  in  the  man 
ner  and  upon  the  conditions  above  specified 
as  applicable  to  the  county  court  or  board 
of  supervisors,  and  the  bond  required  shall 
be  made  payable  to  the  treasurer  of  said 
town  or  city. 

S.  5.    The  mayor  and  aldermen  of  any 
city  may,  within  such  city,  the  president 
and  trustees  of  any  incorporated  town  may,   by  whom 
within  such  town,  the  board  of  supervisors,   fi 
in  counties  having  township  organization, 
may,  within  townships  not  within  a  city  or 
incorporated    town,    and    in    counties    not 
having  township  organization,  the  county 


License  to  sell, 
when  and 


180        LINCOLN  AND  PKOHIBITION 

court  may,  in  any  precinct  without  the 
limits  of  any  incorporated  town  or  city,  as 
hereinafter  provided,  at  any  meeting  of 
their  board,  court  or  body,  duly  convened, 
upon  reasonable  notice  to  every  member 
thereof,  appoint  some  suitable  person  or 
persons  as  agent  or  agents  of  said  city, 
town  or  county,  for  the  purchase  of  spirit- 
ous  and  intoxicating  liquors,  and  for  the 
sale  thereof  within  such  city,  town,  town 
ship,  or  precinct,  for  sacramental,  medici 
nal,  chemical,  and  mechanical  uses  only; 
which  such  agents  may  be  removed  and 
others  appointed  in  their  stead,  at  pleasure, 
by  the  body  appointing,  or  their  successors 
in  office,  or  a  majority  of  them;  but  no 
more  than  one  agent  shall  be  appointed  in 
any  town,  township,  or  precinct  containing 
less  than  two  thousand  inhabitants,  and  not 
more  than  two  in  any  incorporated  town, 
city,  township,  or  precinct  containing  less 
than  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  and  not  more 
than  three  such  agents  in  any  city,  except 
the  city  of  Chicago,  and  not  more  than  five 
such  agents  shall  be  in  office  at  the  same 
County  time  in  the  said  city  of  Chicago.  The  county 

court  court    of    the    counties    which    have    not 

adopted  the  township  organization,  at  any 
regualr  meeting  of  the  court  for  the  trans 
action  of  county  business  may,  in  their  dis 
cretion,  upon  the  petition  of  a  majority  of 
the  legal  voters  of  any  precinct,  not  being 
an  incorporated  town  or  city  of  the  State, 
or  in  the  limits  thereof,  appoint  one  such 
agent  for  said  precinct.  No  inn-keeper,  or 
keeper  of  a  public  eating  house,  or  of  a 
house  of  public  entertainment,  shall  be  ap- 


APPENDIX  K  181 

pointed  such  agent.  Every  such  agent  shall  Duties 
hold  his  office  for  one  year,  unless  sooner  of  agent 
removed;  he  shall  sell  such  liquor  only  In 
the  one  place  designated  in  writing  by  the 
body  appointing  him;  he  shall,  in  the  pur 
chase  and  sale  of  such  liquor,  conform  to 
such  rules  and  regulations  as  the  said  body 
appointing  him  shall  prescribe,  not  incon 
sistent  with  the  provisions  of  this  act;  he 
shall  keep  an  accurate  account  of  all  his 
purchases  and  all  his  sales,  specifying  in 
such  account  the  kind,  quantity,  and  price 
of  the  liquor  bought  by  him,  the  date  of 
each  purchase  made  by  him,  and  the  name 
of  the  person  of  whom  such  purchase  was 
made,  the  kind,  quantity,  and  price  of 
liquor  sold  by  him,  the  date  of  each  sale 
made  by  him,  the  name  of  the  purchaser 
at  every  such  sale,  and  the  use  for  which 
the  liquor  on  every  such  sale  was  sold,  as 
stated  by  the  purchaser,  and  of  all  for 
feited  liquor  by  him  received  and  sold  or 
destroyed;  which  account  shall  be  at  all 
times  open  to  the  inspection  of  the  body 
appointing  such  agent,  or  any  member 
thereof;  and  when  required  by  said  body, 
or  a  majority  of  them,  he  shall  account 
with  them  regarding  all  his  dealings  as 
such  agent,  and  exhibit  to  them  all  receipts, 
bills,  books,  papers  of  every  kind,  relating 
to  such  dealings,  or  to  his  accounts;  he 
shall  sell  such  liquor  at  not  more  than 
twenty-five  per  cent  advance  upon  the  cost 
thereof,  and  shall,  when  required  by  the 
body  appointing  him,  pay  over  the  proceeds 
of  his  sales  to  the  treasurer  of  the  body  so 
appointing  him,  and  he  shall  semiannually, 


182         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

or  oftener,  if  required  by  the  body  so  ap 
pointing  him,  make  a  report,  verified  by 
his  oath  or  affirmation,  of  all  his  purchases, 
and  the  costs  thereof,  and  of  his  sales,  and 
the  proceeds  thereof,  specifying  the  number 
of  sales,  the  respective  quantities  and  kinds 
sold  for  each  of  the  purposes  of  sacramen 
tal,  medicinal,  chemical  and  mechanical 
uses,  and  the  quantity  and  kind  and  cost  of 
all  liquors  remaining  on  hand  at  the  time 
of  such  meeting,  and  of  all  forfeited  liquors 
by  him  received  and  sold  or  destroyed; 
which  report,  however,  shall  not  specify 
the  names  of  the  persons  to  whom  his  sales 
may  have  been  made. 

He  shall  receive  for  his  services  such 
Compensation  fixed  and  stipulated  compensation  as  said 
body  appointing  said  agent  shall  prescribe, 
but  the  amount  of  said  compensation  shall 
not  be  increased  by  reason  of  any  increase 
or  diminution  of  the  sales  of  such  liquor  by 
such  agent,  and  he  shall  not  be  in  any  way, 
except  as  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city, 
town,  county,  or  precinct,  interested  in  said 
liquor,  or  in  the  purchase  or  sale  thereof, 
or  in  the  profits  thereon;  and  no  such  agent 
shall  be  authorized  to  sell  or  give  away  any 
spiritous  or  intoxicating  liquors,  or  any 
such  liquors  mixed  with  soda  water,  or  any 
other  compound,  liquid,  or  otherwise,  to  be 
drank,  taken,  or  used  as  medicine  or  other 
wise,  in  their  store,  shop,  or  place  of  busi 
ness,  or  any  of  the  appurtenances  or  de 
pendencies  thereof;  but  any  such  sale  or 
giving  away  shall  subject  the  said  agent  to 
the  same  penalties  provided  for  the  sale  or 
giving  away  of  liquors  contrary  to  the  pro- 


APPENDIX  K 


183 


Certificate 
to  be  given 
to  the  agent 
appointed 


visions  of  this  act.  If  any  person  purchas-  Penalty 
ing  any  spiritous  or  intoxicating  liquor  of 
such  agent  shall  intentionally  make  to  such 
agent  any  false  statement  regarding  the 
use  to  which  such  liquor  is  intended  by  the 
purchaser  to  be  applied,  such  person  so 
offending  shall,  upon  conviction  thereof, 
forfeit  and  pay  a  fine  of  fifty  dollars,  to 
gether  with  costs  of  his  prosecution,  to  be 
recovered  by  an  action  of  debt,  before  any 
justice  of  the  peace,  or,  if  the  offense  is 
committed  within  a  city,  police  magistrate 
of  any  such  city,  or  by  indictment  in  the 
circuit  court  of  the  proper  county.  Every 
such  agent  shall  receive,  from  the  body  ap 
pointing  him,  a  certificate  authorizing  him 
as  agent  of  said  town,  city  or  county,  as  the 
case  may  be,  to  sell  at  the  place  mentioned 
in  such  certificate  spiritous  or  intoxicating 
liquors  for  sacramental,  medicinal,  chemi 
cal,  and  mechanical  uses  only;  which  said 
certificate,  when  granted  by  any  common 
council  of  a  city,  or  president  and  trustees 
of  a  town,  or  county  court,  or  board  of 
supervisors,  shall  be  issued  by  the  clerks 
of  said  bodies,  respectively,  attested  by 
their  common  or  corporate  seal,  or  in  case 
there  is  no  such  seal,  then  by  the  private 
seal  of  said  clerk.  Said  agent  shall  not 
receive  any  such  certificate,  or  exercise  his 
office  until  he  shall  have  executed  and  de 
livered  to  the  body  appointing  him,  for  the 
use  of  the  city,  town,  or  county  appointing 
him,  a  bond,  with  at  least  two  good  and 
sufficient  sureties,  approved  by  said  body 
appointing  him,  in  a  sum  not  less  than  six 
hundred  dollars,  in  substance  as  follows: 


184         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 


Form  of  bond         "Know  all  men  that  we, ,  as  princi 
pal,  and  ,  as  sureties,  are  held  and 


Penalty 


firmly   bound   to 


in   the   sum   of 


dollars,  to  be  paid  to  said 


to  which  payment  we  bind  ourselves,  our 
heirs,  and  executors,  and  administrators, 
firmly  by  these  presents.  Sealed  with  our 

seals,  and  dated  at ,  this day 

of ,  A.  D. 

"The  condition  of  this  obligation  is  such, 

that   whereas   the   above   bounden  

has    been    appointed    an    agent    for    said 

,  to  sell  within  said  and  on 

account  of  said ,  spiritous  or  intoxi 
cating  liquors,  to  be  used  for  sacramental, 
medicinal,  chemical,  and  mechanical  pur 
poses  only,  until  the day  of , 

A.  D.,  unless  he  be  sooner  removed  from 

his  agency.     Now  if  the  said  shall 

in  all  respects  conform  to  the  provisions 
of  the  law  in  relation  to  his  agency,  and 
the  laws  of  this  State  relating  to  the  sale 
of  spiritous  or  intoxicating  liquors,  then 
this  obligation  to  be  void." 

S.  6.  If  any  such  agent  shall  break  the 
condition  of  such  bond,  such  bond  shall  be 
forthwith  put  in  suit,  and  his  said  certifi 
cate  and  appointments  shall  immediately 
become  void,  and  he  shall  not  thereafter  be 
permitted  to  act  as  agent  for  the  sale  of 
liquors  anywhere  in  this  State;  and,  more 
over,  for  any  such  violation  shall  be  liable 
to  the  same  penalties  herein  by  this  act 
provided  for  the  illegal  sale  or  giving  away 
of  liquors  contrary  to  the  provisions  of 
this  act. 


APPENDIX  K  185 

S.  7.  Every  person  who  shall,  in  viola-  Penalty  for 
tion  of  this  act,  manufacture  spiritous  or  ^j^01^.011 
intoxicating  liquor,  or  mixed  liquor  of  visional  this 
which  a  part  is  spiritous  or  intoxicating  act  after  first 
liquor,  shall  pay,  on  his  first  conviction  conviction 
for  said  offense,  a  fine  of  one  hundred  dol 
lars  and  the  costs  of  prosecution,  and  in 
default  of  payment  thereof  shall  be  im 
prisoned  sixty  days  in  the  common  Jail;  on 
his  second  conviction  for  said  offense  he 
shall  pay  a  fine  of  two  hundred  dollars  and 
the  costs  of  prosecution,  and  in  default  of 
payment  thereof  he  shall  be  imprisoned 
four  months  in  the  common  Jail;  and  on 
every  subsequent  conviction  for  said  offense 
he  shall  pay  a  fine  of  two  hundred  dollars 
and  be  imprisoned  four  months  in  the  com 
mon  Jail.  Every  prosecution  under  this 
section,  If  the  offense  is  committed  within 
the  limits  of  any  city,  shall  be  heard  and 
determined  before  the  police  magistrate's 
court,  and  said  court  shall,  upon  every  con 
viction,  order  that  the  person  so  convicted 
shall  stand  committed  until  the  fine  and 
costs  are  fully  paid;  or,  if  upon  the  first 
conviction,  until  he  shall  have  been  im 
prisoned  sixty  days,  and  also  that  he  be 
imprisoned  for  the  period  herein  provided, 
if  upon  a  subsequent  conviction;  or  such 
prosecutions  for  offenses  against  the  pro 
visions  of  this  section,  when  committed 
without  the  limits  of  a  city,  shall,  in  the 
first  instance,  be  brought  before  any  justice 
of  the  peace  of  the  proper  county,  who 
shall  thereupon  proceed  in  the  same  man 
ner  as  provided  for  in  the  203d  section,  of 
Chapter  XXX,  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  in 


186 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 


Penalty  for 
giving  away 
or  exchanging 
for  other 
property 


reference  to  the  violations  of  the  provisions 
of  that  chapter. 

S.  8.  If  any  person,  in  violation  of  this 
act,  by  himself,  his  servant  or  agent,  shall, 
for  himself  or  anybody  else,  directly  or  in 
directly,  or  on  any  pretense,  or  by  any  de 
vice,  sell,  or  in  consideration  of  the  pur 
chase  of  any  other  property  give  to  any 
person  any  spiritous  or  intoxicating  liquor, 
or  any  liquor  of  which  part  is  spiritous  or 
intoxicating,  or  shall  at  any  store,  grocery, 
tavern,  or  place  of  trade,  entertainment,  or 
public  resort,  or  in  any  of  the  appurte 
nances  or  dependencies  of  any  such  placs 
or  any  public  place,  give  away  any  such 
liquors,  he  shall  pay,  on  his  first  conviction 
for  said  offense,  fifty  dollars  and  the  costs 
of  prosecution;  and  on  the  second  convic 
tion  for  said  offense  he  shall  pay  a  fine  of 
one  hundred  dollars  and  costs  of  prosecu 
tion,  and  on  every  subsequent  conviction  he 
shall  pay  a  fine  of  two  hundred  dollars  and 
the  costs  of  prosecution,  and  shall  be  im 
prisoned  not  less  than  three  months  nor 
more  than  six  months.  Every  prosecution 
under  this  section  shall,  if  the  offense  is 
committed  within  the  corporate  limits  of 
any  city,  be  heard  and  determined  before 
one  of  the  police  magistrate's  courts  in 
said  city,  and  said  police  magistrates  are 
authorized  and  required,  in  case  of  convic 
tion,  to  order  the  person  or  persons  so 
convicted  to  stand  committed  until  the  fine 
and  costs  are  fully  paid,  and  also  to  com 
mit  said  convicted  persons  for  the  term  of 
imprisonment  for  which  they  may  be  sen 
tenced.  In  cases  of  trial  by  jury  under 


APPENDIX  K  187 

this  section,  the  jury  shall  fix  the  time  of 
imprisonment  in  case  of  conviction  as 
above  provided,  but  if  the  accused  shall 
plead  guilty,  or  shall  consent  to  the  trial 
by  said  police  magistrate,  then  the  said 
police  magistrate  may  fix  the  term  of  im 
prisonment;  or  prosecutions  for  the  first 
and  second  of  said  offenses,  when  commit 
ted  without  and  beyond  the  limits  of  any 
city,  shall  be  brought  in  the  first  place  be 
fore  any  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  county 
where  said  offenses  may  be  committed,  who 
may  hear  and  determine  the  same,  and 
upon  conviction,  issue  execution  against 
the  goods  and  chattels  for  the  fine  and 
costs,  or  the  said  justice  in  his  discretion 
may  proceed  according  to  section  203d,  of 
Chapter  XXX,  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  and 
in  the  manner  therein  provided  for  offenses 
against  the  provisions  of  that  chapter;  and 
prosecutions  for  the  third  or  any  subse 
quent  offense  committed  without  the  limits 
of  any  city,  shall  also  be  first  brought  be 
fore  any  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  proper 
county,  who  shall  thereupon  proceed  ac 
cording  to  said  section  203d,  of  Chapter 
XXX,  Revised  Statutes. 

All  clerks,  agents,  and  servants  of  every   Penalties 
kind  employed  in  selling  or  keeping  for  applicable 
sale,  or  giving  away,  in  violation  of  the  **!T*BL. 

strents  mid 

provisions  of  this  act,  of  any  spiritous  or  Servant8 
intoxicating  liquor,  or  any  mixed  liquor, 
a  part  of  which  is  spiritous  or  intoxicating, 
shall  incur  the  same  penalties  and  be 
prosecuted  against  in  the  same  manner  as 
principals,  and  may  in  the  information, 
indictment,  or  complaint,  be  charged  in 


188        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 


Penalty  for 
the  violation 
of  the  pro 
visions  of 
this  act 


the  same  manner  and  be  convicted,  whether 
their  principals  be  convicted  or  not.  No 
such  clerk,  servant,  or  agent  shall  be  ex 
cused  from  testifying  against  his  principal 
upon  the  ground  or  for  the  reason  that  he 
may  thereby  criminate  himself;  but  no 
testimony  so  given  by  him  shall  In  any 
prosecution  be  used  as  evidence,  either  di 
rectly  or  indirectly,  against  said  clerk, 
servant,  or  agent,  nor  shall  he  thereafter 
be  prosecuted  for  any  offense  so  disclosed 
by  him. 

S.  9.  No  person  shall  own  or  keep  any 
spiritous  or  intoxicating  liquor,  or  any 
mixed  liquor  of  which  a  part  is  spiritous 
or  intoxicating,  with  intent  to  sell  or  give 
away  the  same  in  violation  of  this  act,  or  to 
permit  the  same  to  be  sold  or  given  away 
in  violation  of  this  act;  and  every  person 
who  shall  own  or  keep  any  such  liquor  with 
any  such  intent,  shall,  on  his  first  convic 
tion  for  said  offense,  pay  a  fine  of  fifty 
dollars  and  the  costs  of  prosecution;  on 
his  second  conviction  shall  pay  a  fine  of 
one  hundred  dollars  and  costs  of  prosecu 
tion;  on  every  subsequent  conviction  for 
said  offense  he  shall  pay  a  fine  of  two  hun 
dred  dollars  and  the  costs  of  prosecution, 
and  shall  be  imprisoned  not  less  than  three 
nor  more  than  six  months.  Every  prose 
cution  for  said  offenses  when  committed 
within  the  corporate  limits  of  any  city  in 
this  State,  shall  be  heard  and  determined 
by  one  of  the  police  magistrates  of  said 
city,  and  such  magistrate  is  authorized 
and  required  to  order  any  person  so  con 
victed  before  him  to  stand  committed  until 


APPENDIX  K  189 


the  fine  and  costs  imposed  hereby  are  fully 
paid,  and  to  stand  committed  for  the  time 
of  imprisonment  for  which  he  may  be  sen 
tenced,  as  herein  provided  for;  and  when 
said  offenses  shall  be  committed  beyond 
the  limits  of  any  city,  then  said  prosecu 
tions  shall  first  be  brought  before  some  jus 
tice  of  the  peace  of  the  proper  county, 
who  may  hear  and  determine  prosecutions 
for  the  first  and  second  offenses,  and  issue 
executions  against  the  goods  and  chattels 
of  any  person  convicted  before  him  there 
for;  or  the  said  justice,  in  his  discretion, 
may  proceed  according  to  section  203,  of 
Chapter  XXX,  in  the  Revised  Statutes,  in 
the  manner  provided  therein  in  relation  to 
offenses  against  such  chapter;  and  every 
prosecution  for  a  subsequent  offense  so  com 
mitted  beyond  the  limits  of  any  city,  shall 
first  be  brought  before  some  justice  of  the 
peace  of  the  proper  county,  who  shall 
thereupon  proceed  acording  to  said  section 
203,  of  Chapter  XXX,  Revised  Statutes. 
And  upon  the  trial  of  every  complaint  for 
the  violation  of  this  section  or  of  the  eighth 
section  of  this  act,  proof  of  the  finding  of 
the  liquor  specified  in  the  complaint  in  the 
posesssion  of  the  accused,  in  any  place 
except  his  private  dwelling  house  or  its  de 
pendencies  (or  in  such  dwelling  house,  or  de 
pendencies  if  the  same  be  a  tavern,  public 
eating  house,  grocery,  or  other  place  of 
public  resort),  shall  be  received  by  the 
court,  magistrate,  or  justice  of  the  peace, 
as  presumptive  evidence  that  such  liquor 
was  kept  for  sale  contrary  to  the  provisions 
of  this  act. 


190        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 


Appeal  may 
be  taken 


Nuisance 


Written 
complaint 
to  be  made 


S.  10.  Any  person  may  appeal  from  a 
final  judgment  rendered  against  him  by  a 
justice  of  the  peace  for  a  first  or  second 
offense  under  section  eight  or  section  nine, 
and  from  any  final  judgment  of  a  police 
magistrate  of  any  city,  to  the  circuit  court 
of  the  county  wherein  said  judgment  may 
have  been  rendered:  Provided,  he  shall 
forthwith  give  bond  in  not  less  than  five 
hundred  dollars,  with  at  least  two  good  and 
sufficient  sureties,  with  condition  to  appear 
at  the  court  appealed  to,  and  there  to 
prosecute  his  appeal  and  to  abide  the  sen 
tence  of  the  court  thereon,  and  that  he  will 
not,  during  the  pendency  of  such  appeal, 
violate  the  provisions  of  this  act.  Said 
bond  may  be  approved  by  the  justice  of  the 
peace  or  police  magistrate  rendering  the 
judgment  or  by  the  clerk  of  the  circuit 
court,  in  the  manner  provided  by  law  in 
other  cases. 

S.  11.  All  spiritous  or  intoxicating 
liquors,  and  all  mixed  liquors,  of  which 
a  part  is  spiritous  or  intoxicating,  intended 
by  the  owner  or  keeper  thereof  to  be  sold 
or  given  away,  in  violation  of  this  act, 
shall,  with  the  vessels  in  which  it  is  con 
tained,  be  deemed  a  nuisance,  and  shall, 
with  said  vessels,  be  forfeited  to  the  city, 
town,  or  county  in  which  it  is  kept. 

S.  12.  If  any  two  or  more  persons,  resi 
dents  in  any  city,  county,  or  town,  being  of 
full  age,  shall  before  a  justice  of  the  peace 
of  the  county  or  police  magistrate  of  said 
city,  make  written  complaint  that  any 
spiritous  or  intoxicating  liquor,  or  any 
mixed  liquor,  of  which  a  part  is  spiritous 


APPENDIX  K  191 


or  intoxicating  ( described  as  nearly  as  may 
be  in  said  complaint)  is  in  said  town, 
city,  or  county  in  any  place  described  as 
nearly  as  may  be  in  said  complaint,  or  in 
any  steamboat,  or  water  craft  of  any  kind, 
depot,  railroad  car  or  land  carriage  of  any 
kind,  described  as  nearly  as  may  be  in 
said  complaint,  or  in  a  street  or  public 
highway,  or  any  public  place  whatsoever, 
described  as  nearly  as  may  be  in  said  com 
plaint,  kept,  owned,  or  carried  by  any  per 
son  or  corporation,  described  as  nearly  as 
may  be  in  said  complaint,  and  is  intended 
by  him  or  them  to  be  sold  or  given  away  in 
violation  of  this  act;  and  if  said  complain 
ants  shall,  before  said  justice  or  police 
magistrate,  as  the  case  may  be,  make  oath 
or  affirmation  that  they  have  reason  to  be 
lieve,  and  do  believe,  to  be  substantially 
true  the  allegations  in  said  complaint,  said 
justice  or  police  magistrate,  as  the  case 
may  be  (upon  finding  probable  cause  for 
said  complaint),  shall  issue  his  warrant 
of  search,  directed  to  the  sheriff  of  the 
county,  his  deputy,  or  any  constable  of  said 
county,  or  if  to  be  executed  within  the 
limits  of  a  city,  to  the  sheriff  of  the 
county,  his  deputy,  or  any  constable  of  the 
county  or  city  marshal  of  said  city  or  his 
deputies,  describing  as  nearly  as  may  be 
the  liquor  and  the  place  described  in  said 
complaint,  and  the  person  described  in 
said  complaint  as  the  owner  or  keeper  of 
said  liquor,  and  commanding  said  officer  to 
search  thoroughly  the  said  place,  to  seize 
said  liquor,  with  the  vessels  containing  it, 
and  to  keep  the  same  securely  until  final 


192        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Proviso  action  be  had  thereon:  Provided,  however, 

that  if  the  place  to  be  searched  be  a  dwell 
ing  house  in  which  any  family  resides,  and 
in  which  no  tavern,  eating  house,  grocery, 
or  other  place  of  public  resort  is  kept, 
such  warrant  shall  not  be  issued,  unless 
one  at  least  of  said  complainants  shall  on 
oath  or  affirmation  before  said  justice  or 
police  magistrate  declare  that  he  has  rea 
son  to  believe,  and  does  believe,  that 
within  one  month  next  before  the  making 
of  said  complaint,  spiritous  or  intoxicating 
liquor,  or  mixed  liquor,  of  which  a  part  is 
spiritous  or  intoxicating,  has  been,  in  vio 
lation  of  this  act,  sold  in  said  house  or  in 
some  dependency  thereof,  by  the  person 
accused  in  said  complaint,  or  by  his  con 
sent  or  permission;  nor  unless  from  the 
facts  and  circumstances  disclosed  by  said 
complaint  to  said  justice  or  police  magis 
trate,  said  justice  or  police  magistrate  shall 
be  of  opinion  that  said  complainant  has 
adequate  reason  for  such  belief.  Whenever 
the  offense  shall  be  alleged  to  be  without 
and  beyond  the  limits  of  an  incorporated 
town  or  city,  then  the  complaint  herein 
provided  for  may  be  made  by  any  residents 
of  the  county  before  any  justice  of  the 
peace  of  the  county,  and  warrant  of  search 
may  be  issued  by  such  justice  in  the  man 
ner  herein  above  provided. 

Duty  of  Justices  S.  13.  Whenever  upon  such  warrant 
of  the  peace  sucfa  iiquor  g^an  have  been  seized,  the 
justice  or  police  magistrate  issuing  said 
warrant  shall,  within  forty-eight  hours 
after  such  seizure,  cause  to  be  posted  upon 
some  public  place  within  such  town,  city, 


APPENDIX  K  193 

or  (in  case  the  said  liquor  is  so  found 
without  the  limits  of  an  incorporated  town 
or  city),  county,  and  to  be  left  at  the  place 
where  said  liquor  was  seized,  if  said  place 
be  a  dwelling  house,  store,  or  shop,  and 
to  be  left  with  or  at  the  last  usual  place 
of  abode  of  the  person  named  in  said  com 
plaint  as  owner  or  keeper  of  said  liquor, 
if  such  person  be  a  resident  of  this  State,  a 
notice  summoning  such  person,  and  all 
others  whom  it  may  concern,  tc  appear  be 
fore  said  justice  or  police  magistrate,  at  a 
place  and  time  named  in  said  notice,  which 
time  shall  not  be  less  than  two  or  more 
than  four  weeks  after  the  posting  and  leav 
ing  of  said  notices,  and  show  cause,  if  any 
they  have,  why  said  liquor  should  not  be 
forfeited,  with  the  vessels  containing  it; 
and  said  notice  shall,  with  reasonable  cer 
tainty,  describe  said  liquor  and  vessels, 
and  state  where,  when,  and  why  the  same 
were  seized.  At  the  time  and  place  pre 
scribed  in  said  notice  the  person  named  in 
such  complaint,  or  any  person  claiming  an 
Interest  in  said  liquor  and  vessels,  or  any 
part  thereof,  may  appear  and  show  cause 
why  the  same  should  not  be  forfeited.  If 
any  person  shall  then  and  there  so  appear, 
lie  shall  become  a  party  defendant  in  said 
cause,  and  said  justice  or  police  magistrate 
shall  make  a  record  thereof.  Whether  any 
person  so  appear  or  not  said  complainants 
or  either  of  them,  or  upon  the  failure  of 
such  complainants  the  officer  having  such 
liquor  in  custody,  shall  appear  before  said 
justice  of  the  peace,  or  police  magistrate, 
and  prosecute  said  complaint,  and  show 


194         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

cause  why  such  liquor  should  he  adjudged 
forfeited;  and  said  justice  or  police  magis 
trate  shall  make  a  record  of  such  appear 
ance  and  the  name  of  such  prosecutor,  and 
shall  proceed  to  inquire  whether  said 
liquor  and  vessels  be  liahle  to  forfeiture; 
and  if  upon  the  evidence  then  and  there 
presented  to  him  he  shall  find  that  said 
liquor  or  any  part  thereof  was,  when  seized, 
kept  or  carried  by  any  person  for  the  pur 
pose  of  being  sold  or  given  away  in  viola 
tion  of  this  act,  said  justice  or  police  mag 
istrate  shall  render  judgment  that  said 
liquor,  or  said  part  thereof,  with  the  ves 
sels  in  which  it  is  contained,  is  forfeited. 
If  no  persor  be  made  defendant  in  manner 
aforesaid,  or  if  judgment  be  in  favor  of  all 
the  defendants  who  appear,  then  the  costs 
of  the  proceedings  shall  be  paid  by  the  city, 
town,  or  (if  the  said  liquor  is  found  as 
aforesaid  without  and  beyond  the  limits  of 
an  incorporated  town  or  city)  county.  If 
the  judgment  of  said  justice  or  police 
magistrate  shall  be  against  only  one  defend 
ant  appearing  as  aforesaid,  he  shall  pay 
all  the  costs  of  the  proceedings  in  the  seiz 
ure  and  detention  of  the  liquor  claimed  by 
him  up  to  that  time  and  of  said  trial.  But 
if  such  judgment  shall  be  against  more 
than  one  party  defendant  claiming  distinct 
interest  in  said  liquor,  then  the  costs  of 
said  proceedings  and  trial  shall  be  equit 
ably,  according  to  the  discretion  of  said 
justice  or  police  magistrate,  apportioned 
among  said  defendants;  and  in  either  case 
such  costs  shall  be  collected  by  execution 
or  executions  issued  by  said  justice  or 


APPENDIX  K  195 

police  magistrate  against  the  property  and 
(if  said  executions  are  issued  by  a  police 
magistrate)  bodies  of  the  defendants  whose 
duty  it  is  to  pay  the  same,  and  paid  into 
the  treasury  of  the  town,  city,  or  county, 
as  the  case  may  be,  where  the  said  liquor 
was  seized.  And  if  any  such  execution 
shall  not  be  forthwith  paid,  the  defendant 
in  execution,  if  said  execution  shall  have 
been  issued  by  a  police  magistrate,  shall  be 
committed  to  jail,  and  shall  not  be  released 
therefrom  until  he  shall  have  paid  said  exe 
cution  and  the  costs  of  his  commitment  and 
detention,  or  if  said  execution  is  issued  by 
a  police  magistrate,  until  he  shall  have 
been  imprisoned  thirty  days  at  least.  The 
said  justice  of  the  peace  or  police  magis 
trate  shall  have  power  to  continue  to 
another  time,  not  exceeding  fifteen  days, 
the  hearing  of  the  question  of  forfeiture  as 
herein  provided  and  also  to  adjourn  the 
same  from  day  to  day  until  determined. 
Any  person  appearing  as  aforesaid  may  Appeal  may 
appeal  from  said  judgment  of  forfeiture  ** taken 
(as  to  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  liquor 
and  vessels  so  adjudged  forfeited)  to  the 
circuit  court  next  to  be  holden  in  the 
county  wherein  such  judgment  is  rendered, 
but  his  appeal  shall  not  be  allowed  until 
he  shall  give  bonds,  with  good  and  suffi 
cient  security,  to  be  approved  by  the  jus 
tice  or  police  magistrate  before  whom  said 
judgment  shall  be  rendered,  to  the  treas 
urer  of  the  town,  city,  or  county,  as  ihe 
case  may  require,  in  such  an  amount  as 
said  justice  or  police  magistrate  shall 
order,  not  less  than  five  hundred  dollars, 


196         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

conditioned  that  tie  appear  before  said  cir 
cuit  court  and  prosecute  his  said  appeal 
and  abide  the  order  of  the  court  there 
upon,  and  also,  that  he  will  not,  during  the 
pendency  of  said  appeal,  violate  any  of  the 
provisions  of  this  act;  and  in  each  in 
stance  in  which  any  such  appeal  or  ap 
peals  is  or  are  allowed,  said  justice  or 
police  magistrate  shall  transmit  to  the 
clerk  of  said  court,  within  ten  days  there 
after,  and  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  the 
term  to  which  said  appeal  or  appeals  shall 
be  taken,  a  copy  of  said  record,  by  him 
made,  of  the  original  complaint,  and  all 
proceedings  had  before  him  in  the  case  and 
said  complaint;  and  the  case  or  cases  aris 
ing  upon  said  appeal  or  appeals  shall  there 
upon  be  pending  before  said  circuit  court. 
If  before  said  circuit  court  no  party  so 
appealing  shall  appear,  the  appeal  bond  or 
bonds  shall  be  forfeited,  and  said  court 
shall  render  judgment  that  the  liquor  and 
vessels  in  respect  to  which  said  appeal  or 
appeals  has  or  have  been  taken  are  for 
feited;  but  if  any  party  or  parties  so  ap 
pealing  shall  appear,  said  court  shall  pro 
ceed  to  try,  by  jury,  the  issue  or  issues 
arising  upon  said  appeal  or  appeals,  sev 
erally  or  collectively,  as  said  court  may 
deem  proper;  and  if  by  verdict  of  the 
Jury,  accepted  by  the  court,  it  is  found  that 
said  liquor,  in  respect  to  which  any  appeal 
was  taken,  was,  when  seized,  kept  by  any 
person  for  the  purpose  of  being  sold  or 
given  away  in  violation  of  this  act,  then 
said  liquor  and  vessels  containing  it  shall 
be  adjudged  forfeited,  and  said  court  shall 


APPENDIX  K 


197 


liquors  to 
be  delivered 
to  agent 


tax  the  costs  arising  upon  said  appeal 
against  said  party  appealing,  and  order 
him  to  pay  the  same  forthwith;  and  for 
the  payment  thereof,  according  to  said 
order,  his  said  appeal  hond  shall  stand  as 
security,  and  said  defendant  may  by  said 
court  he  committed  to  jail  until  the  fine 
and  costs  are  paid. 

S.  14.  Whenever  it  shall  be  finally  de-  Forfeited 
cided  that  liquor  seized  as  aforesaid  is 
forfeited,  the  justice  of  the  peace,  police 
magistrate,  or  other  court  rendering  final 
judgment  of  forfeiture,  shall  issue  to  the 
officer  having  said  liquors  in  custody,  or  to 
some  other  proper  officer,  a  written  order, 
directing  him  to  deliver  said  liquor,  and 
the  vessels  containing  it,  to  some  agent 
duly  appointed  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors  in  the  city,  town,  township,  or 
precinct  of  the  county  where  said  liquor 
was  seized,  or  in  case  there  be  no  such 
agent  in  said  city,  town,  township,  or  pre 
cinct,  then  to  some  other  such  agent  in 
some  other  city,  town,  township,  or  pre 
cinct  in  the  same  county,  which  order  the 
said  officer,  after  obeying  the  commands 
thereof,  shall  return  to  said  court  with  his 
doings  thereon  indorsed.  Said  agent  shall 
receive  said  liquor  and  vessels,  and  if,  in 
his  opinion,  the  same,  or  any  part  thereof, 
be  fit  to  be  sold  for  any  lawful  uses,  he 
shall  sell  the  same,  or  such  part  thereof,  in 
the  course  of  his  agency,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  city,  town,  or  county,  as  the  case 
may  be,  wherein  the  same  were  seized;  and 
if,  in  his  opinion,  the  same,  or  any  part 
thereof,  be  not  fit  to  be  sold,  he  shall  de- 


198        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

stroy  the  same,  or  such  part  thereof. 
Whenever  it  shall  be  finally  decided  that 
any  liquor  so  seized  is  not  liable  to  for 
feiture,  the  court  so  deciding  shall  issue  a 
written  order  to  the  officer  having  the  same 
in  custody,  or  to  some  other  proper  officer, 
to  restore  said  liquor,  with  the  vessels 
containing  it,  to  the  place  where  it  was 
seized,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  or  to  the  per 
son  entitled  to  receive  it,  which  order  the 
said  officer,  after  obeying  the  commands 
thereof,  shall  return  to  said  court  with 
his  doings  thereon  indorsed.  And  the  costs 
of  the  proceedings  in  such  case  shall  be 
taxed  and  paid  by  the  city,  town,  or  county 
wherein  said  liquor  was  so  seized. 

S.  15.  Whenever  any  officer  authorized 
to  commence  a  prosecution  for  a  violation 
of  the  ninth  section  of  this  act,  shall  in  any 
way  receive  notice  that  liquor  has  been 
seized  upon  a  warrant  issued  pursuant  to 
the  twelfth  section  of  this  act,  said  officer 
ehall  immediately  cause  a  prosecution  for 
violation  of  said  ninth  section  to  be  com 
menced  before  the  justice  or  police  magis 
trate  who  issued  said  warrant  against  the 
person  named  in  said  warrant  as  the  owner, 
or  keeper,  or  carrier  of  the  liquor  to  be 
seized,  unless  such  prosecution  shall  have 
been  already  commenced  by  some  other 
proper  officer. 

S.  16.    A  complaint  under  the  twelfth 
section  of  this  act  may  be  in  form,  sub 
stantially,  as  follows: 
Form  of  "To  A.  B.,  esq.,  a  justice  of  the  peace  of 

complaint  the  county  of  ,  or  police  magistrate 

of  the  city  of ,  (as  the  case  may  be). 


APPENDIX  K  199 

The  complaint  of  the  undersigned  (resi 
dent  in  said  ,  of  full  age,)  sheweth 

that  in  a  certain  place  in  said  ,  to 

wit:  (here  insert  description  of  shop, 
house,  or  other  place,  describing  the  same 
as  nearly  as  may  be,)  certain  liquor,  to 
wit:  (here  insert  description  of  liquor, 
describing  the  same  as  nearly  as  may  be) 
is  owned  or  kept  (as  the  same  may  be)  by 

C.  D.  in  the ,  in  the  county  of , 

and  is  intended  by  said  C.  D.,  to  be  sold 
or  given  away  in  violation  of  the  act  of 
1855,  entitled  'An  act  for  the  suppression 
of  intemperance,  and  to  amend  chapter 
thirty  of  the  Revised  Statutes/  and  against 
the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  people  of  the 
State  of  Illinois.  Wherefore,  the  com 
plainants  pray  your  honor  to  issue  a  war 
rant  of  search,  that  said  place  may  be 
searched,  and  said  liquor  seized  and  dis 
posed  of  according  to  law. 
"Dated  at ,  this  day  of . 

"E.  P. 

"G.  H. 

"I.    J." 

The  justice  of  the  peace  or  police  magis 
trate  to  whom  such  complaint  is  made, 
having  administered  the  oath  or  affirma 
tion  required  by  section  twelfth,  may  cer 
tify  on  such  complaint  the  administration 
of  said  oath  and  his  finding  thereon,  in 
the  following  form: 

" county ss.  (Town  or  city   Form 

and    date).      Personally    appeared    E.    F.,   of  oath 

G.  H.  and  I.  J.,  residents  in  said  , 

being  of  full  age,  and  presented  to  me  the 
foregoing  complaint,  by  them  signed,  and 


200         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

made  solemn  oath  (or  affirmation,  as  the 
case  may  be)  before  me,  that  they  have 
reason  to  believe,  and  do  believe  to  be  sub 
stantially  true  the  allegations  in  said  com 
plaint.  Whereupon,  I  find  that  probable 
cause  exists  for  said  complaint;  and  (in  case 
a  dwelling  house,  etc.,  is  to  be  searched) 

the  said ,  one  of  said  complainants, 

having  on  his  oath  (or  affirmation)  before 
me  declared  that  he  has  reason  to  believe, 
and  does  believe,  that  within  one  month 
next  before  the  making  of  said  complaint 
spiritous  or  intoxicating  liquor,  or  mixed 
liquor,  a  part  of  which  is  spiritous  or  in 
toxicating,  has  been  sold  in  violation  of  the 
act  of  1855,  for  the  'suppression  of  intem 
perance,  and  to  amend  chapter  thirty  of 
the  Revised  Statutes,'  in  said  house,  or  in 
some  dependency  thereof,  by  the  person 
accused,  or  by  his  consent  or  permission, 
upon  the  facts  and  circumstances  dis 
closed  by  said  ,  to  me,  I  am  of  the 

opinion  he  has  adequate  cause  for  such 
belief. 

"A.  B.,  J.  P.,  or  Police  Magistrate." 
A  warrant  issued  pursuant  to    section 
twelfth  may  be,  in  form,  substantially  as 
follows : 
Form  "The  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois  to  the 

of  warrant          sheriff  of  the  county  of ,  his  deputy, 

or  either  constable  of  said  county,  or  (if 
the  warrant  is  to  be  executed  in  any  city) 
to  the  sheriff,  deputy  sheriff,  or  constable 

of  the  county  of ,  or  marshal  of  the 

city  of  ,  greeting: 

"Whereas,  E.  F.,  G.  H.  and  I.  J.,  resi 
dents  in   said  ,   being   of  full   age, 


APPENDIX  K  201 


have,  before  me,  made  their  written  com 
plaint,  that  in  a  certain  place  in  said 
,  to  wit:  in  (here  insert  a  descrip 
tion  of  shop,  house,  or  other  place,  describ 
ing  the  same  as  nearly  as  may  be)  certain 
liquor,  to  wit:  (here  insert  a  description 
of  the  liquor  as  nearly  as  may  be)  is  owned 
or  kept  (as  the  case  may  be)  by  C.  D.  of 
(name  of  county,  city,  town,  or  other  place, 
naming  it),  and  is  intended  by  said  C.  D., 
to  be  sold  or  given  away,  in  violation  of  the 
act  of  1855,  entitled  'An  act  for  the  sup 
pression  of  intemperance,  and  to  amend 
chapter  thirty  of  the  Revised  Statutes/  and 
against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 

"And  whereas,  said  complainants  have 
before  me  made  solemn  oath  (or  affirma 
tion,  as  the  case  may  be)  that  they  have 
reason  to  believe,  and  do  believe,  to  be 
substantially  true,  the  allegations  in  said 
complaint;  and  whereas  I  do  find  that 
probable  cause  exists  for  said  complaint, 
and  (in  case  a  dwelling  house,  etc.,  is  to 

be  searched),  and  the  said  ,  one  of 

said  complainants,  having  on  his  oath  (or 
affirmation,  as  the  case  may  be),  before  me 
declared  that  he  has  reason  to  believe,  and 
does  believe,  that  within  one  month  next 
before  the  making  of  said  complaint,  spirit- 
ous  or  intoxicating  liquors,  or  mixed 
liquors,  part  of  which  is  spiritous  or  intoxi 
cating,  has  been  sold  in  violation  of  the 
act  of  1855,  for  'the  suppression  of  intem 
perance,  and  to  amend  chapter  thirty  of 
the  Revised  Statutes/  in  said  house  or  some 
dependency  thereof,  by  the  person  accused 


202         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

in  the  complaint  aforesaid,  or  by  his  con 
sent  (or  permission),  upon  the  facts  and 

circumstances  disclosed  by  said  ,  I 

am  of  opinion  that  he  has  adequate  cause 
for  such  belief;  now,  therefore,  in  the  name 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  people  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  you  are  hereby  com 
manded  to  search  thoroughly,  the  said 
place,  and  to  seize  said  liquor  and  the 
vessels  containing  it,  and  securely  keep  the 
same  until  final  action  be  had  thereon. 
Hereof  fail  not,  but  due  return  make. 
"Dated  at  ,  this  day  of 

"A.  B.,  J.  P.,  or  Police  Magistrate." 
The  form  of  notice  required  by  section 
thirteen  may  be  substantially  as  follows: 

Form  "To  C.   D.  of  ,  in  the  county  of 

of  notice  ,  and  to  all  others  whom  it  may  con 

cern — Greeting : 

"Whereas,  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of 
an  act  entitled  'An  act  for  the  suppression 
of  intemperance,  and  to  amend  chapter 
thirty  of  the  Revised  Statutes,'  upon  due 

complaint,  dated ,  and  upon  warrant 

duly  issued  upon  said  complaint,  c'ertain 
liquor,  with  the  vessels  containing  it  (de 
scribe  the  liquor  and  the  vessels  with  rea 
sonable  certainty)  was  seized  at  (describe 
the  place  as  nearly  as  may  be)  in  the 

,   of  ,   on  the  day  of 

— ,  A.   D.  18 — ,  by    (name  of  officer) 

a  (sheriff,  deputy  sheriff,  or  other  officer, 
as  the  case  may  be)  which  said  liquor  and 
vessels  were  seized  because  it  is  alleged 
that  said  liquor  was  owned,  or  kept,  or 
carried,  by  some  person,  with  intent  that 


APPENDIX  K  203 


said  liquor  should  be  sold  or  given  away 
contrary  to  the  law.  And  whereas  the  said 
liquor,  if  so  owned  or  kept,  with  such  in 
tent,  is  liable  to  forfeiture;  now  you,  the 
said  C.  D.,  and  all  others  whom  it  may  con 
cern,  are  hereby  summoned  to  appear  be 
fore  me  at  (name  of  town,  city,  or  other 

place,)    on   the  day  of  ,   at 

o'clock,  in  noon,  then  and 

there  to  show  cause,  if  any  you  have,  why 
said  liquor  and  vessels  should  not  be  ad 
judged  forfeited. 

"Dated    at   —    — ,    this   day   of 

,  A.  D.  18—. 

"A.  B.,  J.  P.,  or  Police  Magistrate." 

S.  17.  If  any  person  shall  be  found  in. 
a  state  of  intoxication  in  any  highway, 
street,  courthouse,  or  other  public  place, 
or  shall  be  found  in  a  state  of  intoxication 
in  any  place,  committing  any  breach  of  the 
peace,  or  disturbing  others  by  noise,  any 
sheriff,  deputy  sheriff,  constable,  or  (if 
within  any  city)  said  officer  or  any  police 
officer  of  a  city,  city  marshal,  or  other 
officer,  may  without  warrant,  and  it  is  here 
by  made  his  duty  to  take  such  person  into 
custody,  and  detain  him  in  some  proper 
place  until,  in  the  opinion  of  such  officer, 
he  shall  be  so  far  recovered  from  his  in 
toxication  as  to  be  capable  of  properly 
testifying  in  a  court  of  justice,  and  shall 
then  bring  him,  if  said  person  is  willing, 
before  some  justice  of  the  peace  of  the 
county,  or  if  arrested  within  a  city,  police 
magistrate  of  a  city;  and  if  such  person 
is  willing  to  make  full  disclosures  regard 
ing  the  person  or  persons  of  whom,  and 


204         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

the  time,  place,  and  manner  in  which  the 
liquor  producing  his  intoxication  was  pro 
cured,  and  all  the  circumstances  attending 
it,  such  justice  or  police  magistrate  shall 
administer  to  him  the  oath  provided  for 
witnesses,  and  he  shall  inquire  of  him  in  the 
presence  of  the  officer,  regarding  the  mat 
ter,  and  if  upon  such  inquiry,  it  shall  ap 
pear  to  such  officer  that  any  of  the  offenses 
specified  in  the  eighth  or  ninth  sections  of 
this  act  have  been  committed  within  this 
State,  such  officer  (who  is  hereby  author 
ized  so  to  do)  shall  In  due  form  of  law 
file  his  complaint  to  said  justice  or  police 
magistrate  against  the  person  or  persons 
upon  such  disclosure  appearing  to  the  offi 
cer  to  be  guilty  thereof,  and  shall,  if  the 
said  person  so  taken  intoxicated  be  willing 
thereto,  detain  said  person  until  the  trial 
of  said  complaint  before  said  justice  or 
police  magistrate.  And  said  justice  or 
police  magistrate  shall  issue  his  warrant 
for  the  immediate  arrest  of  the  person 
charged  in  said  complaint,  and  he  shall 
accordingly  be  arrested  and  brought  before 
said  justice  or  police  magistrate  (as  the 
case  may  be)  to  answer  to  said  complaint, 
and  shall  be  tried  thereon  without  unneces 
sary  delay,  and  convicted  or  acquitted  in 
4  due  form  of  law;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty 

of  said  officer  to  prosecute  such  complaint, 
and  of  any  State's  attorney,  or  (if  the 
offense  is  committed  within  the  limits  or 
jurisdiction  of  a  city)  the  city  attorney  to 
assist  him  in  such  prosecution.  And  the 
person  so  arrested,  when  taken  and  brought 
before  said  justice  of  the  peace  or  police 


APPENDIX  K  205 


magistrate,  shall  be  immediately  put  to 
plead  to  said  complaint;  and  unless  he 
plead  guilty,  the  trial  of  said  complaint 
shall  be  commenced,  and,  whether  he  plead 
guilty  or  not,  the  testimony  of  the  person 
found  intoxicated  as  aforesaid  shall  be 
taken,  of  which  testimony  the  said  justice 
or  police  magistrate  shall  make  a  true  rec 
ord;  and  if  the  person  so  complained 
against  shall  be  found  guilty,  and  shall 
appeal  from  the  judgment  of  said  justice  or 
police  magistrate,  or  (in  the  cases  before 
a  justice  hereinbefore  provided  for  in  sec 
tions  eight  and  nine)  shall  give  bail  for 
his  appearance  at  the  next  term  of  the 
circuit  court  of  the  county  wherein  said 
judgment  is  rendered,  or  shall  be  commit 
ted  in  default  of  giving  bail  for  his  said 
appearance,  said  justice  may,  in  his  dis 
cretion,  recognize  with  surety  such  wit 
ness  for  his  appearance  to  testify  in  said 
case  before  the  court  to  which  said  ap 
peal  may  be  taken,  or  to  which  said  defen 
dant  shall  be  required  to  appear.  And  if 
upon  such  trial  or  trials  the  person  so 
found  intoxicated  shall,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  prosecuting  officer,  testify  freely,  fully, 
and  fairly  regarding  the  procurement  or 
receipt  of  the  liquor  which  produced  his 
intoxication,  the  person  or  persons  of 
whom,  and  on  what  terms  it  was  obtained 
or  received,  and  the  time  and  place  of  such, 
receipt,  and  all  the  circumstances  regard 
ing  it,  he  shall  be  discharged,  and  no 
evidence  which  he  shall  have  given,  either 
before  said  justice  or  police  magistrate  in 
making  such  disclosures,  or  as  a  witness 


206         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

upon  said  trial  or  trials,  shall  be  used 
against  him  in  any  trial  or  proceeding 
whatever;  nor  shall  any  prosecution  he 
instituted  or  carried  on  against  him  for  or 
on  account  of  such  intoxication.  But  if 
Refuse  to  he  shall  refuse  to  he  taken  before  said 

testify  justice  of  the  peace  or  police  magistrate,  as 

hereinabove  provided,  by  the  officer  or 
officers  having  him  in  custody,  or  if,  when 
brought  before  such  justice  of  the  peace 
or  police  magistrate,  he  shall  refuse  to 
make  disclosures  before  said  justice  or 
police  magistrate  in  the  manner  herein 
before  provided  for,  or  shall  refuse  to 
testify  freely  and  fully,  as  a  witness  on 
said  trial  or  trials,  then  he  shall  be  in  due 
form  prosecuted  for  his  intoxication,  and 
on  conviction  thereof  be  punished  as  pro 
vided  in  the  twenty-sixth  section  of  this 
act.  The  costs  of  the  arrest  and  detention 
of  the  person  so  taken  intoxicated  shall, 
upon  the  order  of  the  justice  or  police 
magistrate  before  whom  such  person  is 
brought,  be  paid  from  the  treasury  of  the 
town,  city  or  county  in  which  the  arrest 
is  made.  This  section  shall  not  be  so  con 
strued  as  to  authorize  the  forcible  deten 
tion  of  the  person  so  taken  intoxicated 
after  he  shall  have  recovered  from  his  in 
toxication,  until  the  trial  of  the  person  or 
persons  against  whom  his  disclosures  shall 
be  made  before  the  justice  or  police  magis 
trate;  but  if  such  person,  upon  recovering 
from  his  intoxication,  shall  not  voluntarily 
consent  to  go,  and  go  with  the  officer,  and 
make  the  disclosures  contemplated  in  this 
section,  and  shall  not  thereafter  volun- 


APPENDIX  K  207 

tarily  remain  in  custody  of  such  officer 
or  some  other  proper  person  by  said  officer 
designated,  until  such  trial,  he  shall  be 
forthwith  prosecuted  for  his  intoxication 
under  the  twenty-sixth  section  of  this  act; 
and  any  officer  who  by  this  section  is 
authorized  to  arrest  such  intoxicated  per 
sons,  may  make  complaint  against  and 
prosecute  such  person  for  such  intoxica 
tion. 

S.  18.  Every  sheriff,  deputy  sheriff,  and  Duty  of 
constable  of  any  county,  mayor,  or  city 
marshal,  or  other  police  officer  of  any  city, 
or  the  president  and  trustees  of  any  in 
corporated  town,  are  hereby  authorized, 
and  it  is  hereby  made  their  duty,  within 
their  respective  counties  or  cities  or  towns, 
as  the  case  may  be,  when  any  violation  of 
any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  come 
to  their  or  his  knowledge,  or  on  being  in 
formed  of  the  same,  and  being  furnished 
with  reasonable  proof  of  the  fact,  or  having 
good  reason  to  suspect  that  an  offense  has 
been  committed  against  this  act,  to  make 
the  complaints,  and  to  institute  and  carry 
on  prosecutions  against  any  person  or 
persons  violating  the  provisions  of  this  act 
as  hereinbefore  provided;  and  any  com 
plaint  herein  provided  for  may  be  so  made 
by  any  one  of  the  said  officers.  If  any  such 
officer  receiving  salary  or  fees,  knowing  or 
being  informed,  and  being  furnished  with 
reasonable  proof  of  the  fact,  or  having 
good  reason  to  believe  or  suspect  that  any 
person  or  persons  have,  within  their  re 
spective  jurisdictions,  been  guilty  of  violat 
ing  any  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall 


208         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

fail  to  make  complaints  and  institute  and 
carry  on  prosecutions  against  such  person 
or  persons  so  offending,  as  herein  pro 
vided  for,  said  officer  or  officers  shall,  upon 
conviction,  be  punished  by  fine  not  less 
than  twenty-five  and  not  exceeding  one 
hundred  dollars.  And,  moreover,  upon  con 
viction,  if  the  same  shall  be  had  in  the 
circuit  court  of  the  county  wherein  such 
officer  shall  hold  his  office,  or  of  the  circuit 
court  of  any  other  county  to  which  the 
same  may  be  removed  by  change  of  venue 
under  the  laws  of  this  State,  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  the  court  before  whom  such 
conviction  shall  be  had,  to  declare  the 
office  of  said  officer  vacant;  and  said 
officer  shall  thereafter  be  disqualified  from 
holding  the  same  office  anywhere  in  the 
Penalty  for  State  of  Illinois.  For  any  violation  of 
violation  tbis  section  prosecutions  may,  upon  the 

complaint  of  any  resident  of  the  county 
or  (in  case  of  violation  hereof  by  a  city 
marshal,  mayor,  or  other  police  officer  of 
any  city)  city  wherein  said  officer  shall 
hold  his  office,  before  any  justice  of  the 
peace,  or  in  case  of  a  city  officer,  police 
magistrate,  or  by  indictment  in  the  circuit 
court  of  the  county  wherein  said  officer 
shall  hold  his  office.  Nothing  in  this  sec 
tion  shall  be  construed  to  prevent  any 
residents  of  a  town,  city,  or  county,  as  the 
case  may  be,  from  making  complaints  and 
instituting  and  carrying  on  prosecutions 
as  in  other  sections  of  this  act  provided. 
Sheriffs,  deputy  sheriffs,  and  constables 
are  authorized,  and  it  is  hereby  expressly 
made  their  duty,  to  make  said  complaints 


APPENDIX  K 


209 


and  Institute  and  carry  on  prosecutions  for 
violations  of  this  act  where  the  offenses 
may  be  committed  within  the  limits  of 
an  incorporated  city,  or  any  other  place 
in  their  county,  anything  in  any  law 
or  charter  to  the  contrary  notwithstand 
ing. 

S.  19.  All  cases  under  this  act  which 
shall  come  by  appeal,  writ  of  error,  or  in 
any  other  manner  before  any  higher  court 
than  a  justice's  court,  shall  in  such  higher 
court  be  conducted  by  the  State's  attorney, 
or  (in  case  the  offense  be  committed  within 
the  limits  of  any  city)  city  attorney  (as 
the  case  may  be)  in  behalf  of  the  prosecu 
tion,  and  shall  take  precedence  in  such 
court  of  all  other  criminal  business,  except 
those  criminal  cases  in  which  the  parties 
accused  are  actually  under  arrest  awaiting 
trial;  and  the  prosecuting  officers  shall  not 
have  authority  to  enter  a  nolle  proseqni, 
except  by  the  consent  of  the  court,  and 
where  the  purposes  of  justice  manifestly 
require  it. 

S.  21.  Whenever  default  shall  be  had 
of  any  recognizance,  or  whenever  a  breach 
of  the  condition  of  any  recognizance  or 
bond  given  pursuant  to  this  act  shall  have 
occurred,  the  proper  officer  shall  forthwith 
commence  suit  upon  said  recognizance  or 
bond,  and  pursue  the  same  to  final  judg 
ment  as  speedily  as  possible.  Any  judgment 
recovered  in  such  suit  shall  be  for  the  full 
amount  of  said  recognizance  or  bond,  with 
costs  of  suit;  and  no  court  or  officer  shall 
remit  to  the  defendant  or  defendants  any 
part  of  said  judgment. 


Cases  to  be 
conducted 
by  the  State 
and  the  city 
attorneys 


Suit 
on  bond 


210         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 


Not 

necessary 
to  set  forth 
the  kind  of 
liquor  in 
complaint 


Fees 


S.  22.  In  any  complaint  or  indictment 
under  this  act  it  shall  not  be  necessary  to 
set  forth  exactly  the  kind  or  quantity  of 
liquor  sold  or  manufactured,  nor  whether 
the  accused  was  a  principal  or  clerk,  ser 
vant  or  agent,  or  the  exact  time  of  the  sale 
or  the  manufacture  thereof,  but  proof  of 
the  violation  by  the  accused  of  any  pro 
vision  of  this  act,  the  substance  of  which 
violation  is  briefly  set  forth  in  said  com 
plaint  or  indictment,  within  the  times  men 
tioned  in  said  complaint,  shall  be  sufficient 
to  convict  such  persons;  and  it  shall  not  be 
requisite  in  any  complaint  or  indictment 
for  a  second  or  subsequent  offense  to  set 
forth  the  record  of  a  former  conviction, 
but  it  shall  be  sufficient  briefly  to  allege 
in  such  complaint  such  former  conviction. 
Nor  shall  it  be  necessary,  in  every  case, 
to  prove  payment  in  order  to  prove  a  sale 
within  the  meaning  of  this  act.  This  act 
shall  in  all  courts  be  liberally  construed 
for  the  detection  and  punishment  of  of 
fenses  ;  and  any  defects  in  any  complaint  or 
indictment  or  declaration,  either  of  form  or 
substance,  may  be  amended  by  the  court 
before  which  the  same  is  pending,  whether 
by  original  entry,  appeal  or  otherwise. 

S.  23.  A  justice  of  the  peace,  police 
magistrate,  or  clerk  of  the  circuit  court 
shall  be  entitled  to  receive  for  causing 
notices  to  be  posted  up  and  left  pursuant 
to  section  13,  fifty  cents  for  each  notice; 
and  for  receiving  a  complaint  and  making 
certificate  thereon,  as  required  by  sections 
12  and  16,  the  justice  of  the  peace  or  police 
magistrate  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  one 


APPENDIX  K  211 

dollar;  for  issuing  an  order  pursuant  to 
section  14,  fifty  cents;  where  notice  shall 
be  published  in  a  newspaper,  the  printer  or 
publisher  of  such  paper  shall  be  entitled 
to  receive  such  compensation  as  the  court 
shall  order;  and  the  officer  who  shall  make 
service  of  any  warrant  for  the  seizure  of 
liquor  shall  be  allowed  for  the  same  two 
dollars;  for  the  removal  and  custody  of 
said  liquor,  his  reasonable  expenses  and 
one  dollar;  for  the  delivery  of  any  such 
liquor  under  order  of  the  court,  his  rea 
sonable  expenses  and  one  dollar;  and  for 
posting  and  leaving  the  notices  required 
by  sections  13  and  33,  one  dollar.  For  all 
other  services  under  this  act,  the  said 
justice  of  the  peace,  police  magistrate, 
clerks,  or  other  officers  shall  be  allowed  to 
receive  the  same  compensation  as  is  now  Additional 
by  law  allowed  for  similar  services.  Noth-  compensation 
ing  in  this  act  or  any  law  of  this  State 
shall  prevent  any  of  said  officers  from  re 
ceiving  any  additional  compensation  which 
may  be  allowed  to  them  by  the  ordinances 
of  any  incorporated  town  or  city.  Nor 
shall  any  interest  which  said  officers  may 
have  in  their  fees  or  in  such  compensa 
tion  render  said  officers  incompetent  to 
testify  as  witneses  in  any  trial  or  pro 
ceeding  authorized  by  this  act;  nor  shall 
any  person  be  rendered  incompetent  to 
testify  as  a  witness  in  any  trial  or  pro 
ceeding  authorized  by  this  act  by  reason 
or  on  account  of  said  person  being  an  in 
habitant  of  any  town,  city,  or  county  where 
in  an  offense  may  be  committed,  or  such 
proceeding  may  be  had. 


212 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 


Common 
council  to 
prosecute  for 
breach  of 
bond 


Penalty  for 
violating  the 
provisions 
of  this  act 


S.  24.  The  common  council  of  any  city, 
the  president,  and  trustees  of  any  incor 
porated  town,  or  the  board  of  supervisors, 
or  the  county  court  of  any  county,  when 
ever  complaint  shall  be  made  to  them  that 
a  breach  of  the  condition  of  the  bond  given 
by  an  agent  appointed  by  them  under  this 
act  has  been  committed,  shall  notify  such 
agent  of  such  complaint,  and  if  upon  hear 
ing  of  the  parties  it  shall  appear  that  any 
such  breach  has  been  committed,  they  shall 
revoke  said  agent's  appointment;  and 
whenever  such  breach  is  in  any  way  made 
known  to  the  common  council  of  any  city, 
the  president  and  trustees  of  any  town, 
the  board  of  supervisors  or  county  court  of 
any  county,  or  any  one  of  them,  they  or 
he,  shall,  at  the  expense  and  for  the  use 
of  said  city,  town,  or  county,  cause  the 
bond  to  be  put  in  suit. 

S.  25.  All  payments  or  compensations 
for  liquor  hereafter  sold  in  violation  of 
this  act,  whether  such  compensation  be  in 
money,  goods,  land,  labor,  or  anything  else, 
shall  be  held  to  have  been  received  in 
violation  of  law  and  against  equity  and 
good  conscience,  and  to  have  been  received 
upon  a  valid  promise  and  agreement  of 
the  receiver  in  consideration  of  the  re 
ceipt  thereof  to  pay  to  the  person  furnish 
ing  such  consideration  on  demand  the 
amount  of  said  money,  or  the  just  value  of 
such  goods,  land,  labor,  or  other  thing. 
All  sales,  transfers,  conveyances,  mort 
gages,  liens,  attachments,  pledges,  and  se 
curities  of  every  kind,  which  either  in 
whole  or  in  part  shall  have  been  made  for 


APPENDIX  K 


213 


or  on  account  of  spiritous  or  intoxicating 
liquors  sold  in  violation  of  this  act,  shall 
be  utterly  null  and  void  against  all  per 
sons  in  all  cases,  and  no  rights  of  any  kind 
shall  be  acquired  thereby;  and  no  action 
of  any  kind  shall  be  maintained  in  any 
court  of  this  State  for  spiritous  or  intoxi 
cating  liquors,  or  mixed  liquor,  of  which 
a  part  is  spiritous  or  intoxicating,  sold  in 
any  other  State  or  country  contrary  to  the 
law  of  said  State  or  country,  or  with  in 
tent  to  enable  any  person  to  violate  any 
provision  of  this  act,  nor  shall  any  action 
be  maintained  for  the  recovery  or  posses 
sion  of  spiritous,  or  intoxicating,  or  mixed 
liquor,  or  the  value  thereof,  except  in  cases 
where  persons  owning  or  possessing  such 
liquor,  with  lawful  intent,  may  have  been 
illegally  deprived  of  said  liquor.  Nothing 
in  this  section,  however,  shall  affect  in  any 
way  negotiable  paper,  in  the  hands  of  any 
fiona  fide  holder  thereof  who  may  have  Not  to 
given  valuable  consideration  therefor,  with-  extend  to 
out  notice  of  any  illegality  in  its  inception  JJ^J1^ 
or  transfer,  or  the  holder  of  land  or  other  hands  of  holder 
property  who  may  have  taken  the  same  in  bonafide 
good  faith  without  notice  of  any  defect 
in  the  title  of  the  person  from  whom  it  was 
taken;  and  all  other  sections  of  this  act, 
and  all  evidence  given  under  them,  shall 
be  construed  in  the  same  way  as  they 
would  be  if  this  section  were  omitted  from 
this  act,  and  have  the  same  effect.  In  all 
actions  at  law  or  suits  in  equity  brought 
for  the  recovery  of  spiritous,  intoxicating, 
or  mixed  liquor,  or  the  value  thereof,  or 
founded  upon  sales,  transfers,  conveyances, 


214         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

mortgages,  liens,  attachments,  pledges,  and 
securities  of  every  kind,  which  either  in 
whole  or  in  part  shall  have  been  made  for 
or  on  account  of  spiritous  or  intoxicating 
liquor  sold  in  violation  of  this  act,  it  shall 
not  be  necessary  for  the  defendant  or  de 
fendants  to  plead  the  same,  or  that  said 
liquor  was  sold  contrary  to  the  provisions 
of  this  act,  but  the  same  may  be  given  in 
evidence  on  the  trial  of  such  action  or 
suit  in  equity;  and  whenever  it  shall  ap 
pear  in  evidence  or  by  the  pleadings  to 
any  court  before  which  such  actions  at 
law  or  suit  in  chancery  shall  be  tried  or 
pending,  that  the  same  is  brought  for  the 
recovery  of  spiritous  or  intoxicating  liquor, 
or  mixed  liquor  sold  contrary  to  the  pro 
visions  of  this  act,  or  the  value  thereof 
(except  in  cases  where  persons  owning  or 
possessing  such  liquor  with  lawful  intent, 
may  have  been  illegally  deprived  of  said 
liquor),  or  is  founded  upon  any  sale,  trans 
fer,  conveyance,  mortgage,  lien,  attach 
ments,  pledges,  or  securities  of  any  kind, 
which  either  in  whole  or  in  part  shall  have 
been  made  for  or  on  account  of  spiritous  or 
intoxicating  liquor  sold  in  violation  of  this 
act,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  court, 
whether  the  defendant  or  defendants 
interpose  said  defense  or  not,  or  whether 
the  said  defendant  or  defendants  desire 
the  same  to  be  done  or  not,  forthwith 
to  dismiss  the  said  action  at  law  or  suit 
in  equity,  at  the  cost  of  the  plaintiff  or 
plaintiffs  or  complainant  or  complainants, 
unless  the  said  action  at  law  or  suit  in 
equity  shall  be  instituted  for  his  own  use 


APPENDIX  K 


215 


places 


and  benefit  by  the  lona  fide  holder  of 
negotiable  paper,  who  may  have  given  a 
valuable  consideration  therefor  without 
notice  of  any  illegality  in  its  inception  or 
transfer,  or  the  holder  of  land  or  other 
property  who  may  have  taken  the  same  in 
good  faith,  without  notice  of  any  defect 
in  the  title  of  the  person  from  whom  it 
was  taken. 

S.  26.  If  any  person  shall  be  found  in-  Fine  for 
toxicated  in  any  highway,  street,  court- 
house  or  other  public  place,  or  shall  be 
found  in  a  state  of  intoxication  in  any 
place  committing  any  breach  of  the  peace, 
or  disturbing  others  by  noise,  he  shall, 
on  conviction  thereof,  pay  a  fine  of  twenty 
dollars  to  the  city,  town,  or  (if  found  in 
toxicated  in  any  highway,  street,  court 
house  or  other  public  place,  or  shall  be 
found  in  a  state  of  intoxication  in  any 
place  committing  any  breach  of  the  peace, 
or  disturbing  others  by  noise  without  the 
limits  of  an  incorporated  city  or  town) 
county  in  which  the  offense  is  committed, 
together  with  the  costs  of  prosecution,  and 
stand  committed  until  the  fine  and  costs 
are  paid.  Every  prosecution  for  a  viola 
tion  of  this  section  shall  be  heard  and 
determined  by  a  justice  of  the  peace  of  the 
county  or  (if  within  the  limits  of  an  incor 
porated  city)  by  a  police  magistrate  of  the 
city  where  the  offense  was  committed;  but 
the  person  convicted  upon  said  prosecu 
tion  may  appeal  from  said  judgment  to  the 
circuit  court  of  the  county  in  which  the 
offense  is  committed:  Provided,  that  he  Proviso 
shall  forthwith  give  such  bond  (of  recog- 


216        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

nizance)  with  surety  as  said  justice  or 
police  magistrate  shall  order,  conditioned 
for  his  appearance  at  the  next  term  of  the 
said  circuit  court  to  answer  said  complaint, 
and  for  abiding  the  judgment  that  may  be 
rendered  by  the  court  thereon;  and  if  in 
case  of  conviction  of  said  offense  before 
any  police  magistrate,  or  before  the  circuit 
court,  the  person  so  convicted  shall  fail  to 
pay  the  fine  and  the  costs  of  his  prosecu 
tion,  he  shall  be  committed  to  jail,  and 
shall  not  be  released  until  he  shall  have 
been  imprisoned  for  thirty  days.  And  if 
any  officer  authorized  to  arrest  with  or 
without  warrant  any  person  so  found  in 
toxicated  shall  fail  so  to  arrest  any  person 
whom  he  may  see  intoxicated,  said  officer 
shall  forfeit  and  pay  for  every  such  offense 
twenty  dollars,  to  be  recovered  by  an  action 
of  debt  before  any  justice  of  the  peace 
of  the  county  or  police  magistrate  of  any 
city  within  which  said  officer  shall  hold  his 
office. 

Compensation         S.  27.    The  common  council  of  any  city, 
to  agents  the  president   and  trustees  of  any  incor 

porated  town,  the  board  of  supervisors  or 
the  county  court  of  any  county,  or  a  ma 
jority  of  either  of  said  bodies,  may  appro 
priate  out  of  the  city,  town,  or  county 
treasury  such  sums  as  in  their  judgment 
shall  be  necessary  for  the  purchase  of 
spiritous  or  intoxicating  liquor  by  the 
agent  or  agents  of  said  city,  town,  or 
county,  to  be  by  him  or  them  sold  under 
the  provisions  of  this  act.  And  no  agent 
appointed  under  this  act  shall  have  power 
on  behalf  of  any  city,  town,  or  county  to 


APPENDIX  K  217 

contract  any  debt  for  spiritous  or  intoxi 
cating  liquors  which  shall  to  any  extent 
be  binding  on  such  city,  town,  or  county. 
All  fines  and  forfeitures  collected  under  Application 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  all  profits  of  fines  and 
accounted  for  by  agents  to  sell  spiritous  or 
intoxicating  liquors  shall  be  applied — first, 
to  the  payment  of  the  compensation  al 
lowed  said  agent  or  agents,  next  to  the 
payment  of  costs  which  may  under  the  pro 
visions  of  this  act  be  incurred  by  said 
city,  town,  or  county,  and  the  remainder, 
if  any,  shall  be  put  into  the  school  fund 
of  the  city,  town,  or  county,  as  the  case 
may  require,  in  which  the  offense  may 
have  been  committed  or  the  profits  made. 
If  any  agent  appointed  under  this  act,  shall 
sell  any  liquor  at  a  greater  profit  than 
hereinbefore  provided  for,  such  agent  shall 
be  deemed  guilty  of  an  unlawful  sale,  and 
shall  be  prosecuted,  and  upon  conviction 
be  punished  and  dealt  with  in  the  same 
manner  provided  in  case  of  illegal  sales  by 
other  persons,  and,  moreover,  shall  ipso 
facto  forfeit  his  appointment  as  agent,  and 
shall  not  be  thereafter  qualified  or  allowed 
to  act  as  agent  for  the  sale  of  spiritous  or 
intoxicating  liquors  under  this  act  any 
where  in  this  State. 

S.  28.  Whenever  any  violation  of  any  of  Appeal 
the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  com- 
mitted  in  any  corporated  town  or  city,  the 
prosecutions  herein  provided  for  may  be 
instituted  and  carried  on  in  the  name  of 
said  city  or  town.  In  all  cases  under  this 
act  (except  where  the  justice  of  the  peace 
or  police  magistrate  may  be  acting  as  a 


218        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

court  of  inquiry  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  and  section  203, 
Chapter  XXX,  Revised  Statutes)  the  party 
prosecuting  or  the  defendant  or  defendants 
shall  be  entitled  to  a  trial  by  jury,  and  in 
cases  of  trial  by  jury,  where  the  punish 
ment  is  by  fine  or  imprisonment,  either  or 
both,  the  jury  shall  fix  by  their  verdict  the 
amount  of  the  fine  and  the  period  of  im 
prisonment,  in  accordance  with  the  pro 
visions  of  this  act.  Appeals  may  be  taken 
in  all  cases  from  the  judgment  of  justices 
of  fhe  peace  or  police  magistrates  (except 
where  said  justice  or  police  magistrates 
may  be  sitting  as  a  court  of  inquiry  as 
aforesaid),  provided  the  defendant  or  de 
fendants  shall  forthwith  give  the  bond  or 
bonds  hereinbefore  required.  And  any  city 
or  town  aforesaid  may  also  appeal  from 
any  judgment  of  such  police  magistrate 
or  justice  of  the  peace  in  like  cases,  by 
filing  with  said  justice  or  magistrate  the 
bond  of  said  city  or  town  under  the  cor 
porate  seal  thereof,  if  they  have  any,  and 
if  not,  then  said  bond  shall  be  signed  by 
the  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  of 
such  town,  or  the  mayor  or  other  chief 
officer  for  the  time  being  of  any  city. 
And  in  case  said  prosecution  before  said 
justice  or  police  magistrate  shall  be  in  the 
name  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
appeals  may  be  allowed  in  the  same  way 
to  the  people  as  is  now  provided  in  cases 
of  assault  and  battery.  Any  bond  given  on 
appeal  from  the  judgment  rendered  by  jus 
tices  of  the  peace  or  police  magistrate 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be 


APPENDIX  K 


219 


from  the  date  thereof  until  the  same  is 
discharged  a  lien  on  all  the  property,  real 
and  personal,  of  principal  and  securities. 
And  no  principal  or  security  on  any  appeal 
bond  shall  be  released  from  his  or  their 
liability  thereon  by  reason  of  any  defect, 
formal  or  substantial,  in  said  bond,  or  in 
the  execution  or  approval  thereof;  but  the 
said  principal  and  securities  shall  in  all 
courts  be  held  liable  in  the  same  manner 
and  to  the  same  extent  as  if  the  said  bond 
or  bonds  had  been  in  all  respects,  written, 
taken,  conditioned,  executed  and  approved 
according  to  law. 

S.  29.  Nothing  contained  in  this  act 
shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prohibit  the 
manufacture  or  keeping  for  sale  of  burning 
fluids  of  any  kind,  perfumery,  essences, 
chemicals,  dyes,  paints,  varnishes,  cos 
metics,  solutions  of  medicinal  drugs, 
medical  compounds,  or  any  other  article 
which  may  be  composed  in  part  of  alcoholic 
or  other  spiritous  liquor,  if  not  adapted  to 
use  as  a  beverage:  Provided,  however,  that 
if  such  article  is  capable  or  being  used, 
or  intended  to  be  used  as  a  beverage  or  in 
evasion  of  this  act,  the  manufacture  or 
keeping  for  sale,  or  sale  thereof,  shall  be 
deemed  a  violation  of  this  act  and  punished 
accordingly. 

S.  30.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  any  mayor, 
alderman,  city  marshal,  or  deputy  marshal, 
sheriff,  deputy  sheriff,  or  constable,  if  he 
shall  have  information  that  any  intoxicat 
ing  liquors  are  kept  or  sold  in  any  tent, 
shanty,  hut,  wagon,  or  hand-carriage  of 
any  kind,  or  place  of  any  kind  other  than 


Manufacture 
not  prohibited 
for  certain 
purposes 


Duty 
of  mayor, 
aldermen,  etc. 


220        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

a  dwelling  house,  for  selling  refreshments 
in  any  public  place  on  or  near  the  grounds 
of  any  cattle  show,  agricultural  exhibition, 
military  muster,  camp  meeting,  or  any  pub 
lic  occasion  of  any  kind,  to  immediately 
make  complaint  thereof  on  oath,  before 
some  justice  of  the  peace  or  police  magis 
trate,  who  shall  issue  his  warrant,  com 
manding  him  to  search  the  place  or  places 
named  in  said  complaint;  and  such  mayor, 
alderman,  city  marshal  or  deputy  marshal, 
sheriff,  deputy  sheriff  or  constable,  shall 
proceed  to  search  such  suspected  places, 
and  if  said  officer  shall  find  upon  the 
premises  any  intoxicating  liquor,  he  shall 
seize  said  liquor  and  arrest  the  keeper  or 
keepers  of  said  place,  or  of  said  wagon  or 
carriage,  and  take  them  forthwith,  or  as 
soon  as  may  be,  before  some  justice  of  the 
peace  of  the  county,  or  (if  within  a  city) 
police  magistrate  of  a  city,  and  thereupon 
such  officer  shall  make  a  written  complaint, 
under  oath  or  affirmation,  and  subscribed 
by  him,  to  such  justice  or  police  magis 
trate,  who  shall  thereupon  proceed  to  hear 
and  determine  said  complaint  and  upon 
proof  that  such  liquors  are  intoxicating, 
that  they  were  found  in  the  possession  of 
the  accused  in  a  tent,  shanty,  or  other  place 
as  aforesaid,  other  than  a  dwelling  house, 
he  or  they  shall  be  sentenced,  upon  convic 
tion  (if  before  a  police  magistrate),  to 
imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  for  thirty 
days,  or  (if  before  a  justice  of  the  peace) 
to  pay  a  fine  of  fifty  dollars  and  costs  of 
the  proceedings;  and  said  liquor  so  seized 
shall  be  forfeited  and  delivered  over  by 


APPENDIX  K  221 

the  officer  or  other  person  having  the  same 
in  custody,  upon  the  order  of  the  justice 
or  police  magistrate,  to  the  agent  (or  one 
of  them),  of  the  city,  town,  or  county 
where  such  liquor  shall  have  been  seized, 
to  be  dealt  with  by  said  agent  as  other 
forfeited  liquor. 

S.  31.     If  any  railroad  conductor,  freight    Railroad 
agent,  expressman,  depot  master,  or  other   conductors 

3>nd  otli6r 

person  in  the  employment  of  or  in  any  public  agents 
manner  connected  with  any  railroad  cor-  uabie  to 
poration,  or  any  teamster,  stage  driver,  or  prosecution 
common  carrier  of  any  kind,  or  any  person 
professing  to  act  as  agent  for  any  other 
person  or  persons,  whether  within  or 
without  this  State,  or  any  other  individual 
of  whatever  calling,  shall  knowingly  bring 
within  this  State,  for  any  other  person, 
any  intoxicating  liquor,  to  be  used  or  dis 
posed  of  for  any  other  purposes  than  those 
recognized  lawful  by  this  act,  or  shall 
knowingly  procure  for  any  other  per 
son  or  persons,  or  shall  knowingly 
aid,  assist,  or  abet,  in  any  man 
ner  whatever,  any  other  person  or  persons 
in  procuring  intoxicating  liquor,  except 
for  the  purposes  contemplated  by  this  act, 
such  person  or  persons  so  offending  shall 
forfeit  and  pay  into  the  treasury  of  the 
county,  town  or  city,  as  the  case  may  be, 
a  fine  of  one  hundred  dollars  and  costs  of 
prosecution  on  the  first  conviction,  and 
on  the  second  and  every  subsequent  con 
viction  two  hundred  dollars  and  costs,  and 
be  imprisoned  in  the  county  jail  not  less 
than  three  nor  more  than  six  months.  If 
any  contractor,  subcontractor,  agent, 


222        LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 


Penalty 
for  resisting 
officers 


Circuit  court 
to  have 
jurisdiction 
in  certain 


engine  driver,  conductor,  director,  or  other 
employee,  engaged  in  the  construction  or 
operation  of  any  railroad,  canal,  or  other 
public  work  in  this  State,  shall  violate  any 
of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  he  or  they 
shall  be  fined  and  imprisoned,  or  either,  as 
the  case  may  be,  to  double  the  extent  of 
other  persons  so  offending. 

S.  32.  Any  person  against  whom  or 
whose  premises  a  search  warrant  has  been 
issued,  or  any  other  person  who  shall  re 
fuse  to  permit  the  search  to  be  made,  or 
otherwise  use  violence  to  prevent  the  same, 
or  who  shall  resist  any  officer  in  the 
execution  of  any  other  process  authorized 
by  this  act,  or  threaten  to  use  vio 
lence  to  prevent  the  execution  of  the 
same,  shall  be  deemed  to  have  resisted  the 
officer,  and  be  made  subject  to  the  penalty 
inflicted  by  the  Revised  Statutes  therefor. 

S.  33.  Nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  so 
construed  as  to  authorize  any  justice  of 
the  peace  to  try  any  person  (except  as  a 
court  of  inquiry)  for  any  offense  against 
any  provisions  of  this  act  where  the  pun 
ishment  is  by  a  fine  above  one  hundred 
dollars  or  imprisonment,  or  to  adjudge 
any  liquor  to  be  forfeited,  as  hereinbefore 
provided,  where  the  value  of  said  liquor 
shall  exceed  one  hundred  dollars;  but  in 
all  cases  where  any  person  for  any  offense, 
the  punishment  whereof  is  imprisonment 
or  fine  exceeding  one  hundred  dollars,  shall 
be  brought  before  any  justice  of  the  peace, 
or  where  in  the  trial  of  any  cause  under 
this  act  it  shall  appear  that  the  offense 
for  which  the  accused  is  upon  his  trial  is 


APPENDIX  K  223 


one  for  which  the  punishment,  as  pre 
scribed  hereby,  is  more  than  one  hundred 
dollars  or  imprisonment,  or  both,  said 
justice  shall  proceed  in  such  case  in  man 
ner  provided  in  section  203,  of  Chapter 
XXX,  of  Revised  Statutes;  and  if  such  fact 
shall  appear  as  aforesaid  upon  the  trial 
of  the  cause  by  a  jury,  said  jury  shall  be 
discharged  without  rendering  any  verdict, 
and  said  justice  of  the  peace  shall  admit 
said  defendant  or  defendants  to  bail,  or  in 
default  thereof,  commit  him  or  them  to 
await  trial  the  next  term  of  the  circuit 
court  of  the  proper  county,  in  same  manner 
as  provided  by  said  section  203,  of  Chapter 
XXX,  Revised  Statutes.  In  all  cases  where 
it  shall  appear,  from  the  officer's  return 
of  any  search  warrant  issued  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act  by  any  justice  of  the 
peace,  that  the  liquor  seized  is  of  greater 
value  than  one  hundred  dollars,  or  if  dur 
ing  or  upon  the  hearing  or  trial  of  said 
complaint,  as  provided  in  the  13th  section 
of  this  act,  it  shall  appear  to  said  justice 
on  the  evidence,  or  (if  the  trial  is  by  a 
jury)  by  the  verdict  of  said  jury,  that  said 
liquor  is  of  greater  value  than  one  hun 
dred  dollars,  then  in  either  or  both  cases 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  justice  of  the 
peace  not  to  render  judgment  but  forthwith 
to  make  a  record  of  all  the  proceedings 
before  him  (except  the  testimony  of  wit 
nesses),  and  certify  the  same  under  his 
hand  and  seal,  and  file  the  same  in  the 
clerk's  office  of  the  circuit  court  of  the 
proper  county;  and  said  clerk  shall,  upon 
receiving  and  filing  said  transcript,  imme- 


224         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 


Proviso 


Fine  and  im 
prisonment 


diately  cause  to  be  published  in  some 
newspaper  in  his  county  (and  if  there  be 
no  newspaper  in  said  county,  then  shall 
cause  to  be  posted  upon  the  door  of  the 
court  house),  and  also  in  either  case  to 
be  left  with  or  at  the  last  usual  place  of 
abode  of  the  person  named  in  the  said 
complaint  as  the  owner  or  keeper  of  said 
liquor,  if  such  person  be  a  resident  of  this 
State,  a  notice,  summoning  such  person, 
and  all  others  whom  it  may  concern,  to 
appear  before  the  said  circuit  court,  at  the 
next  term  thereof,  and  show  cause,  if  any 
they  have,  why  said  liquor  should  not  be 
forfeited  with  the  vessels  containing  it. 
Said  circuit  court  shall  hear  and  determine 
said  question  or  forfeiture  of  said  liquors, 
and  shall  proceed  in  the  same  manner  pro 
vided  in  the  13th  and  14th  sections  hereof: 
Provided,  if  two  weeks  shall  not  intervene 
between  the  day  of  publishing  and  serving 
said  notice  as  aforesaid  and  the  first  day  of 
the  next  term  of  the  said  circuit  court,  said 
cause  shall  be  continued  until  the  next 
term  of  the  said  circuit  court.  The  term 
"justice  of  the  peace,"  as  herein  used,  shall 
not  be  construed  to  include  police  magis 
trate. 

S.  34.  If  any  person,  by  himself,  clerk, 
servant,  or  agent,  shall  sell,  furnish,  or 
give  away  any  intoxicating  liquor,  which 
shall  be  impure  or  adulterated,  he  shall  for 
feit  and  pay  into  the  treasury  of  the  town, 
city,  or  (if  the  offense  is  committed  with 
out  and  beyond  limits  of  any  incorporated 
town  or  city)  county,  not  exceeding  one 
hundred  dollars,  and  be  imprisoned  three 


APPENDIX  K 


225 


months  in  the  jail :  Provided,  no  authorized 
agent  appointed  hereunder  shall  he  subject 
to  the  liabilities  of  this  section,  unless 
such  agent  shall  persist  in  selling  or  fur 
nishing  such  impure  or  adulterated  liquor, 
knowing  the  same  to  be  such;  prosecutions 
under  this  section  may  be,  if  the  offense 
is  committed  within  the  limits  of  an  incor 
porated  city,  brought  before  a  police  magis 
trate  of  said  city,  or  by  indictment  in  the 
circuit  court  of  the  proper  county,  whether 
committed  within  a  city  or  not;  and  if  the 
offense  be  committed  without  the  limits  of 
a  city,  then  the  case  may  be  brought  be 
fore  any  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  county, 
in  manner  provided  in  section  203,  of  Chap 
ter  XXX,  of  the  Revised  Statutes. 

S.  36.  All  laws  and  parts  of  laws  incon 
sistent  with  this  act  shall  be  repealed  when 
this  act  goes  into  operation;  Provided,  that 
all  prosecutions  which  shall  have  been 
commenced  at  the  time  this  act  goes  into 
operation  shall  be  carried  on  to  final  judg 
ment  and  execution  as  if  this  act  had  not 
have  been  passed:  Provided,  all  laws 
authorizing  the  issuing  or  granting  licenses 
to  sell  spiritous  or  intoxicating  or  mixed 
liquors  shall  be  repealed  from  and  after 
the  date  of  the  passage  of  this  act. 

S.  37.  No  officer  or  other  person  shall  be 
liable  to  any  action  or  prosecution,  civil 
or  criminal,  in  behalf  of  any  person  or  the 
people,  for  the  making,  issuing,  trying, 
or  executing  any  complaint,  warrant,  or 
other  process  under  this  act,  or  for  insti 
tuting,  prosecuting,  or  trying  any  suit, 
prosecution,  or  other  proceeding  here- 


Proviso 


Inconsistent 
acts  repealed 


Officers  not 
liable  to 
prosecution 


226 


LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 


Proviso 

Complaints 
of  married 


When  to 
take  effect 


Election  to 
be  held 


under:  Provided,  said  officer  or  other  per 
son  shall  have  acted  in  good  faith. 

S.  38.  Any  married  woman  who  shall 
complain  that  liquor  has  been  sold  to  her 
husband  contrary  to  law,  or  any  widow 
who  shall  complain  that  liquor  has  been 
sold  to  her  son  or  sons  contrary  to  law, 
may,  in  the  stead  of  place  of  the  two  resi 
dents  required  by  section  twelve  of  this 
act,  make  the  complaint  mentioned  in  said 
section  twelve,  or  any  other  section  of 
this  act,  and  may  institute  and  carry  on 
any  prosecution  provided  by  this  act. 
Nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  construed  to 
require  that  a  search  warrant  should  be 
issued  or  executed  prior  to  a  prosecution 
for  a  violation  of  any  section  of  this  act; 
but  such  prosecution  or  prosecutions  may 
be  instituted  and  carried  on  either  with 
or  without  the  issuing  or  executing  of  such 
warrant.  All  prosecutions  for  any  viola 
tions  of  this  act  may  be  by  indictment  in 
the  circuit  court  of  the  county  where  the 
offense  may  be  committed,  anything  herein 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding;  but  a 
conviction  before  a  justice  of  the  peace  or 
police  magistrate  shall  be  a  bar  to  an 
indictment  for  the  same  offense,  and  vice 
versa. 

S.  39.  The  foregoing  provisions  of  this 
act  shall  take  effect  on  the  first  Monday 
of  July  next :  Provided,  if  a  majority  of  the 
ballots  to  be  deposited  as  hereinafter  pro 
vided  shall  be  "against  prohibition,"  then 
this  act  shall  be  of  no  force  or  effect 
whatever. 

S.  40.    An  election  shall  be  held  on  the 


APPENDIX  K.  227 

first  Monday  of  June  next,  at  the  usual 
places  of  holding  elections  according  to  the 
laws  of  this  State  in  such  case  made  and 
provided,  at  which  election  persons  entitled 
to  vote  under  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
this  State  may  express  their  judgment  and 
choice  in  regard  to  this  act,  by  depositing 
in  the  ballot  box  their  ballots,  with  the 
words  "for  prohibition"  or  "against  pro 
hibition."  Notices  of  said  election  shall 
be  given,  and  said  election  shall  be  con 
ducted  according  to  the  laws  of  this  State 
regulating  general  elections.  Returns  of 
said  election  shall  be  made  and  canvassed 
as  is  now  provided  by  law  in  elections  for 
representatives  in  Congress;  and  when  the 
result  of  said  election  is  so  ascertained,  the 
governor  of  the  State  shall  issue  his  procla 
mation  announcing  said  result.  This  sec 
tion  shall  take  effect  from  and  after  its 
passage. 

S.  41.    The  secretary  of  state  shall  cause   Duty  of 
to  be  published  in  pamphlet  form  50,000   secretary 
copies  of  this  law  immediately  after  the   ofstate 
adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  and  shall 
forthwith  send  to  each  county  clerk  of  the 
different  counties  five  hundred  copies  there 
of,   to   be   distributed  among  the   people; 
and  it   shall   be   the   duty   of   the   county 
clerks  to  cause  said  laws  to  be  distributed 
throughout  their  counties  respectively. 

APPROVED  February  12,  1855. 


AUTHORITIES  CONSULTED 

The  author  makes  grateful  acknowledgment  of  aid 
received  by  reference  to  the  following  books  of  record: 

Reminiscences  of  Abraham  Lincoln  by  Distinguished 
Men  of  His  Time,  by  Allen  Thorndike  Rice.  Published 
by  the  North  American  Review  Co.,  New  York. 

Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  Men  of  War  Times,  by 
Colonel  A.  K.  McClure.  Published  by  the  Times  Pub 
lishing  Company,  Philadelphia. 

Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  Men  of  His  Time,  by  Robert 
H.  Browne.  Published  by  the  Blakely-Oswald  Company, 
Chicago. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  by  Charles  Carleton  Coffin.  Pub 
lished  by  Harper  and  Brothers,  New  York. 

Abraham  Lincoln;  the  True  Story  of  a  Great  Life,  by 
Herndon  &  Weik.  Published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Company, 
New  York. 

The  Lincoln  Legion,  by  Louis  Albert  Banks.  Pub 
lished  by  the  Mershon  Company,  New  York. 

History  of  Illinois,  by  Davidson  and  Stuve. 

Life  of  General  John  A.  Rawlins,  by  General  James 
Harrison  Wilson. 

History  of  the  Secret  Service,  by  General  L.  C.  Baker. 

Anti-Saloon   League  Year  Book,   1919. 

Reminiscences  of  Neal  Dow.  Published  by  the  Eve 
ning  Express  Company,  Portland,  Me. 

The  Diary  of  Gideon  Welles,  by  Edgar  T.  Welles;  and 
Uncollected  Letters  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  by  Gilbert  A. 
Tracy.  Published  by  Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  Boston 
and  New  York. 

The  use  of  Lincoln's  letter  to  N.  B.  Judd,  and  the  quo 
tation  from  the  Welles  diary  are  by  permission  of  and 
special  arrangement  with  Houghton  Mifflin  Company. 

228 


INDEX 

Adams,  Rev.  Thomas,  quoted  by  Neal  Dow,  Chapter  I 
Arnold,  Isaac  N.,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chapter  XIX 
Baber,  A.  J.,  on  Lincoln,  Chapter  XVI;   letter  to  John 

G.  Woolley,  Appendix  "E" 

Baker,  General  L.  C.,  on  Alcohol  the  Army  Curse,  Chap 
ter  XXI;  reports  to  President  Lincoln  and  Secre 
tary  Stanton  on  Drunkenness  in  Army,  Chapter 
XXI 

Bates,  David  H.,  on  Merwin  Documents,  following  Pre 
face 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward,   advised  Lincoln,  Preface 
Bellows,  Rev.  Henry  W.,  advised  Lincoln,  Preface 
Berry,  William,  Lincoln's  business  partner,  Chapter  VI 
Black,  Gov.  Frank  S.,  tribute  to  Lincoln,  Chapter  XXVIII 
Blair,  Gov.  Austin,  signs  Merwin's  petition,  Chapter  XIX 
Blair,  Henry,  on  Washingtonians,  Chapter  VII 
Blakeslee,  Rev.  F.  D.,  Merwin's  letter  to;  Appendix  "F" 
Booth,  John  Wilkes,  a  drunkard,  Chapter  XXV 
Browne,  Robert  H.,  author,  Chapters  III  and  IV 
Browning,  Senator  O.  H.,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chap 
ter  XIX 

Buckingham,  Gov.  W.  A.,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chap 
ter  XIX 

Butler,  Gen.  Benjamin  F.,  indorses  Merwin,  Chapter  XIX 
Chandler,  Senator  Zach.,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chap 
ter  XIX 

Chiniquy,  Father,  defended  by  Lincoln,  Preface 
Dana,  Charles  A.,  To  New  Haven  Colony  Historical  So 
ciety,  Preface 
Davis,  Judge  David,  on  Lincoln's  secretiveness,  Chapter 

XXVI 

Davis,  Dr.  Nathan  Smith,  Appendix  "G" 
Dix,  General  John  A.,  letter  of  indorsement  of  Merwin, 
Chapter  XIX 

229 


230         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Dixon,  Senator  James,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chap 
ter  XIX 

Doolittle,  Senator  James  R.,  signs  Merwin  petition, 
Chapter  XIX 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  debate  with  Lincoln  at  Ottawa, 
Chapter  VI;  Douglas  against  prohibition,  Chapter 
XVI 

Dow,  General  Neal,  Chapter  I 

Drummond,  Judge  Thomas  H.,  signs  Merwin  petition, 
Chapter  XIX 

Edwards,  B.  S.,  and  Illinois  prohibition  law,  Preface  and 
Chapter  XIV 

Enloe,  Abraham,  quarrel  with  Thomas  Lincoln,  Chap 
ter  II 

Evening  Post  reference  to  Merwin,  Chapter  XXII 

Farmer,  Rev.  Aaron,  published  Lincoln's  temperance  es 
say,  Chapter  V 

Fessenden,  Senator  William  P.,  urges  passage  of  internal 
revenue  act,  Chapter  XXIII 

Greeley,  Horace,  Lincoln's  message  to,  through  Merwin, 
Chapter  XXIV 

Grimes,  Senator  James  W.,  signs  Merwin  petition, 
Chapter  XIX 

Gurley,  Rev.  Phineas  D.,  advised  Lincoln,  Preface 

Hammond,  Surgeon  General  W.  A.,  Chapter  XIX 

Hanks,  Nancy,  Chapter  II 

Harlan,  Senator  James,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chapter 
XIX 

Harris,  Senator  Ira  G.,  opposes  internal  revenue  act, 
Chapter  XXIII 

Hays,  Will  H.,  Postmaster  General,  Foreword 

Head,  Rev.  Jesse,  Chapter  II 

Herndon,  W.  H.,  Lincoln's  law  partner,  Chapter  V;  on 
Lincoln's  secretiveness,  Chapter  XXVI 

Hicks,  Gov.  Thomas  A.,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chapter 
XIX 


INDEX  231 

Howe,  Senator  Timothy,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chapter 

XIX 

Illinois  Prohibition  Law  of  1855,  Appendix  "K" 
Jaquess,  Col.  J.  F.,  commissioned  by  Lincoln,  Preface 
Judd,    N.    B.,    Lincoln's    letter    to,    on   crooked   voting, 

Chapter  XXVII 

Kirkwood,  Gov.  Samuel,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chap 
ter  XIX 

Lincoln,  Abraham.  Home  training,  Chapter  III;  prowess 
as  athlete,  Chapter  IV;  first  temperance  lecture, 
Chapter  IV;  essay  on  temperance  at  seventeen, 
Chapter  V;  denies  being  a  grocery  keeper,  Chapter 
VI;  admits  he  worked  in  still-house,  Chapter  VI; 
tells  Swett  he  never  tasted  liquor,  Chapter  VI; 
joined  Washingtonians,  Chapter  VII;  address  to 
Washingtonians,  1842,  Chapter  VIII;  prophecy  about 
end  of  slavery  and  drunkenness,  Chapter  VIII;  Lin 
coln  and  pledge-signing,  Chapter  XI;  Lincoln  and 
Breckinridge  boy,  Chapter  XI;  Lincoln  indorses  his 
pastor's  strict  temperance  views,  Chapter  XII; 
Lincoln  and  Illinois  prohibition  campaign,  Chapter 
XIII;  wrote  prohibition  law,  Chapter  XIV;  letter 
to  N.  B.  Judd  on  crooked  elections,  Chapter  XV;  de 
feated  by  Trumbull  for  Senator,  February  8,  1855, 
Chapter  XV;  cold  water  only  at  Lincoln's  notifica 
tion,  1860,  Chapter  XVII;  Lincoln  and  Merwin, 
Chapter  XIX;  writes  pass  for  Merwin,  Chapter 
XIX;  Lincoln,  and  Grant's  liquor  drinking,  Chapter 
XX;  distress  over  Hooker's  defeat  at  Chancellors- 
ville,  Chapter  XXI;  Lincoln's  last  utterance  on 
temperance,  Chapter  XXIV;  Lincoln's  assassins  a 
drinking  set,  Chapter  XXV;  Lincoln's  secretive- 
ness,  Chapter  XXVI;  Lincoln  and  Panama  Canal, 
Appendix  "I" 

Lincoln,  Robert  T.,  letter  on  Merwin,  Appendix  "H" 
Lincoln,  Thomas,  father  of  Abraham,  Chapter  II 


232         LINCOLN  AND  PROHIBITION 

Leland,  Charles  G.,  on  Nancy  Hanks  and  social  condi 
tions,  Chapter  III 

Lloyd  George  referred  to  by  Postmaster  General  Hays 
in  Introduction 

Locke,  D.  R.,  quoted  by  Gen.  Neal  Dow,  Chapter  I 

Logan,  Judge  Stephen  T.,  helps  draft  prohibition  law, 
Chapter  XIV 

McClure,  Colonel  A.  K.,  on  Lincoln,  Preface;  Merwin's 
message  from  Lincoln  to,  Chapter  XXIV 

McDougall,  General  C.,  on  Merwin,  Chapter  XIX;  letter 
to  Senator  Harlan  about  Merwin,  Appendix  "B" 

Maine  Law  Riots  in  Chicago,  Appendix  "C" 

Maine  Prohibition  Law  of  1851,  Appendix  "J" 

Mathew,  Father  Theobald,  temperance  reformer,  visits 
New  York  1849,  Chapter  IX 

Merwin,  Rev.  J.  B.,  equipped  by  Lincoln,  Preface;  Mer 
win's  prohibition  watch,  inscription  by  Lincoln, 
Chapter  XVIII;  statement  about  Lincoln  and  him 
self  to  Charles  T.  White,  Appendix  "D" 

Mills,  Lyman  A.,  owner  of  Merwin  prohibition  watch, 
Chapter  XVIII 

Mudd,  Dr.  Samuel  A.,  Chapter  XXV 

Ogden,  W.  B.,  financed  Lincoln  1855,  Preface  and  Chap 
ter  XIV 

Palmer,  Professor  A.  B.,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chapter 
XIX 

Pitcher,  John,  friend  of  Lincoln  in  Rockport,  Ind.,  Chap 
ter  V 

Pomeroy,  Senator,  opposes  internal  revenue  act,  Chap 
ter  XXIII 

Prohibition  Battle  in  Illinois  in  1855,  Appendix  "C" 

Ramsey,  Governor  Alexander,  signs  Merwin  petition, 
Chapter  XIX 

Randall,  Governor  Alexander  W.,  signs  Merwin  petition, 
Chapter  XIX 

Rankin,  Henry  B.,  statement  of  authorship  of  prohibition 
law,  Chapter  XIV 


INDEX  233 

Rawlins,  General  John  A.,  reproves  General  Grant,  Chap 
ter  XX 

Roosevelt,  President  Theodore,  on  Lincoln's  picture, 
Chapter  XXVIII 

Russell,  Howard  H.,  affidavits  obtained  by,  Chapter  XI 

Scott,  General  Winfield  F.,  indorses  Merwin,  Chapter 
XIX 

Scripps,  J.  L.,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chapter  XIX 

Seward,  Secretary  W.  H.,  and  Panama  Canal,  Appen 
dix  "I" 

Simpson,  Bishop  Matthew,  advised  Lincoln,  Preface 

Smith,  Rev.  James,  advised  Lincoln;  preached  temper 
ance,  Preface  f 

Sons  of  Temperance,  Chapter  X 

Sumner,  Charles,  indorses  Merwin,  Chapter  XIX 

Surratt,  Mrs.  Mary  E.,  Chapter  XXV 

Swett,  Leonard,  on  Lincoln's  total  abstinence,  Preface; 
on  Lincoln's  secretiveness,  Chapter  XXVI 

Tracy,  Gilbert  A.,  book  on  Lincoln  "Uncollected  Let 
ters,"  Chapter  XXVI 

Trumbull,  Senator  Lyman  A.,  Chapter  XIX;  signs  Mer 
win  petition,  Chapter  XIX 

Washingtonian  Movement,  Chapter  VII 

Watson,  Rev.  J.  V.,  editor  Christian  Advocate,  Chapter 
XVIII 

Welles,  Secretary  Gideon,  on  Gen.  Hooker's  drinking, 
Chapter  XXI 

Wilmot,  David,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chapter  XIX; 
opposes  revenue  act,  Chapter  XXIII 

Wilson,  Senator  Henry,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chapter 
XIX;  opposes  revenue  act,  Chapter  XXIII 

Wilson,  Bishop  Luther  B.,  Dedication 

Woolley,  John  G.,  letter  from  A.  J.  Baber  about  Lincoln's 
temperance  speech  in  1855,  Appendix  "E" 

Wright,  Senator,  opposes  internal  revenue  act,  Chapter 
XXIII 

Yates,  Gov.  Richard,  signs  Merwin  petition,  Chapter  XIX 


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